Men's Basketball | 2/15/2019 6:10:00 AM

A second-half rally fell just short for the Bears Thursday night in Ellisville as the fell to the host Jones Bobcats 67-59 in their MACJC South Division contest.
 
With the loss, the Bears fell to 12-9 overall and, at 4-8, into a four-way tie (with Co-Lin, East Central and Hinds) for the fourth and final spot in the upcoming MACJC state tournament. Jones moved to 16-5, 10-2.
 
The first half featured three ties and six lead changes. A Bob Boyd layup gave the Bears a 12-8 lead with 11:45 left in the first half. Jones then went on an 11-2 run to go ahead 19-14 with under 7:00 on the clock.
 
A pair of Boyd three pointers put the Bears back on top 22-20 with 4:50 before halftime. But, a 10-3 run by the hosts left them with a 30-25 advantage at the end of the first half.
 
Jones extended their lead to 43-21 with 13:27 left in the second half. The Bears then cut their deficit to nine points, 45-36, on an Avery Diggs free throw with 11:41 showing.
 
The teams traded baskets for a few minutes before a15-3 run by Jones gave them their biggest lead of the night, 60-39, with 5:29 still to play. But, the Bears were not ready to give up just yet.
 
A three pointer from TJ Ben began a 7-0 run by the Bears, capped by an old-fashioned three-point play from Jay Malone, to make the score 62-49 with 2:55 to go.
 
Another trey from Ben pulled the Bears to within 10, 65-55, with 0:25 to go. Boyd laid the ball in the basket with seconds remaining, but it would not be enough as the 20-7 rally came up just short.
 
"We defended well and had a great scouting report prepared," said Bears head coach Bryan Bender, "but we really struggled in the offensive end tonight. Hats off to Jones for making us settle and take bad, selfish shots from start to finish."
 
"Our fate is still in our hands," Bender continued. "We need to win the next two to put us in a position to make the playoffs. We need a huge home crowd on Monday to carry us to victory."
 
Diggs scored a season-high 18 points for the Bears, most coming in the second half, to lead all scorers. Malone totaled 12 points, Ben had 11 and Boyd netted 10. The Bears went 6-11 at the free throw line.
 
Kenneth Rogers and Tirus Smith both scored 13 points to lead the Jones offense. The hosts hit 14 of 22 free throws.
 
The Bears are back home on February 18 when they host 12^th ranked Pearl River. The South Division game is scheduled for a 7:15 tipoff.