Skip To Main Content

Southwest Mississippi Community College

Scoreboard

Bears lead from start to finish in win over East Central

By: Michael D. Gunnell, Southwest Sports Information
Spencer Rodgers

Men's Basketball | 1/27/2020 10:18:00 PM

Never trailing in the game, the Bears ended the first half of MACJC South Division play Monday night  at home with a convincing 84-68 win over the Warriors of East Central.
 
With the win, the Bears moved to 10-6 overall and 4-3 in the South. East Central dropped to 6-10, 1-6.
 
A Jalon Andrews layup and dunk gave the Bears an early 4-0 lead.
 
With 14:23 left in the opening half, a pair of David Greer free throws extended the Bears' lead to 13-3.
 
After a 9-2 run by East Central trimmed the Bears' lead to 15-12,  a Spencer Rodgers layup with 6:04 on the clock capped a 22-4 run by the Bears that left them with a 37-16 advantage.
 
A three pointer from Ryan Black, with 3:04 on the clock, gave the Bears their largest lead of the half, 44-22. They went on to take a 19-point lead, 51-32, into intermission.
 
The Bears opened the second half on a 12-2 run to move out to their largest lead of the game, 63-34, with 14:32 remaining.
 
A 12-0 run by East Central cut their deficit to 63-46 with under 12:00 left in the game. The Bears answered with six points from Damian Dear to go back up by 19, 69-50, with 8:41 to go.
 
East Central slowly tried to make their way back into the game. After a Goodnews Kpegeol free throw left the Bears on top 76-61, East Central scored to narrow the Bears' lead to 76-63 with 2:37 to go.

That, however, would be as close as they would get the rest of the way. An Andrews dunk with 1:30 showing sealed the deal and the Bears went on to claim the 16-point victory.
 
"It was great to see everyone get in the scorebook," said Bears head coach Bryan Bender (all 10 players scored in the game). "But, it's even better to get a win, especially on your home court ."
 
Referring to East Central cutting his team's lead from 29 points to 13 late in the game, Bender said, "Every team in the South is good. You can never relax in this league. We made it somewhat interesting, not to the point of panicking. But, everybody in this league can play and if you don't bring it every night, you're going to get beat."
 
Rodgers topped all scorers in the game with 18 points while Dear scored 14. Andrews tallied 12 points, Black registered 11 and Kpegeol had 10.
 
The Bears were nearly perfect at the free throw line, making 15 of 18.
 
East Central was led by Kareem Thompson's 14 points. He and his teammates went 13-15 at the free throw line.
 
The Bears travel to Utica Thursday night to start the second half of South Division play as they visit Hinds Community College in a scheduled 7:30 contest.
 
Print Friendly Version

Players Mentioned

Jalon Andrews

#2 Jalon Andrews

F/C
6' 8"
Sophomore
Damian Dear

#5 Damian Dear

G
6' 0"
Sophomore
Goodnews Kpegeol

#12 Goodnews Kpegeol

G/F
6' 6"
Redshirt Freshman
Spencer Rodgers

#22 Spencer Rodgers

G
6' 4"
Sophomore
David Greer

#24 David Greer

C
7' 0"
Sophomore
Ryan Black

#30 Ryan Black

G
6' 2"
Sophomore

Players Mentioned

Jalon Andrews

#2 Jalon Andrews

6' 8"
Sophomore
F/C
Damian Dear

#5 Damian Dear

6' 0"
Sophomore
G
Goodnews Kpegeol

#12 Goodnews Kpegeol

6' 6"
Redshirt Freshman
G/F
Spencer Rodgers

#22 Spencer Rodgers

6' 4"
Sophomore
G
David Greer

#24 David Greer

7' 0"
Sophomore
C
Ryan Black

#30 Ryan Black

6' 2"
Sophomore
G