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Southwest Mississippi Community College

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Bears push 2nd-ranked Pearl River to the brink in close loss

By: Michael D. Gunnell, Southwest Sports Information
Querrion Gadson

Men's Basketball | 2/18/2020 6:05:00 AM

The Bears pushed the 2nd-ranked Pearl River Wildcats to the brink Monday night in Poplarville, but it was the home team who prevailed in the end, 76-70.
 
The Bears fell to 13-9 overall and 7-6 in the MACJC South while Pearl River moved to 21-0, 13-0.
 
Despite the loss, the Bears remain in the hunt for a spot in next week's MACJC tournament. According to head coach Bryan Bender, the Bears can advance to the post-season with a win at East Central Thursday night or a loss by Jones or Gulf Coast on the same night.
 
Pearl River took an early 6-0 lead Monday night. The Bears got on the board with a pair of Damian Dear free throws to pull to within 6-2 with 17:31 left in the first half.
 
A Querrion Gadson bucket with 12:59 on the clock then had the Bears within a point, 12-11.
 
Several minutes later, Gadson slammed the ball home to give the Bears their first lead of the night, 17-16, with 8:33 left in the half.
 
Trailing 21-17, the Bears outscored Pearl River 8-3 and took a 25-24 lead on a Spencer Rodgers trey with 3:50 before the break. After Pearl River went on top 26-25, the Bears outscored their hosts 7-4 to take a 32-30 advantage in the locker room at the end of the half.
 
The second half featured four ties and 11 lead changes.
 
A Drelon Pittman layup and free throw gave the Bears their largest lead of the night, 37-34, with 16:59 left in the game.
 
Although Pearl River would take the lead for good, 50-49, with 9:51 on the clock and later increased their lead to 70-62, the Bears would not go away quietly.
 
The Bears stayed within range the remainder of the game and pulled to within five points on three occasions, but in the end it was the Wildcats who prevailed.
 
"Our guys competed from start to finish," said Bender. "We had a lot of energy and gave max effort. We had a great game plan put together by the coaching staff."
 
"Give credit to them (Pearl River) for making (almost) all their free throws," Bender continued. "They executed. (However) we held them very well defensively. They do three things very well-they defend, they rebound and they make free throws and that's what championship teams do and that's what they did tonight and, unfortunately, we were on the wrong end of it."
 
Dear topped the Bears' offense with 14 points. Gadson totaled 13 points and Rodgers scored 11. The Bears made 19 of 29 free throws.
 
Isaih Moore scored 20 points for Pearl River to lead all scorers. He and his teammates combined to hit 35 of 43 free throws.
 
The Bears' game at East Central is set for a 7:30 start.
 
 
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Players Mentioned

Damian Dear

#5 Damian Dear

G
6' 0"
Sophomore
Drelon Pittman

#0 Drelon Pittman

G/F
6' 4"
Redshirt Freshman
Querrion Gadson

#4 Querrion Gadson

G
6' 1"
Freshman
Spencer Rodgers

#22 Spencer Rodgers

G
6' 4"
Sophomore

Players Mentioned

Damian Dear

#5 Damian Dear

6' 0"
Sophomore
G
Drelon Pittman

#0 Drelon Pittman

6' 4"
Redshirt Freshman
G/F
Querrion Gadson

#4 Querrion Gadson

6' 1"
Freshman
G
Spencer Rodgers

#22 Spencer Rodgers

6' 4"
Sophomore
G