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Southwest Mississippi Community College

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Bears drop heart breaker to East Mississippi, 76-75

By: Michael D. Gunnell, Southwest Sports Information
Bears vs. East Miss.
Chuck Barnes

Men's Basketball | 2/27/2021 7:56:00 PM

In yet another down-to-the-wire affair, the Bears suffered a tough loss Saturday afternoon at home as they fell to the East Mississippi Lions, 76-75.
 
The loss dropped the Bears to 7-4 while the Lions moved to 7-3.
 
The Lions took an early 4-0 lead. The Bears then outscored the visitors 13-8 and took a 13-12 lead on a Mazae Blake jumper with 13:45 left in the first half.
 
The teams then traded leads four times, and were tied once, before a 10-4 run, capped by a Tada Stricklen trey, put the Bears on top 29-23 with 4:43 on the clock.
 
A Javius Moore slam dunk with 2:37 showing gave the Bears a 31-25 advantage, their largest lead of the half. They went on to take a 35-31 lead into the locker room at intermission.
 
Blake's three pointer at the 19:33 mark of the second half gave the Bears their largest lead of the afternoon, 38-31.
 
After four ties and a lead change, the Lions took a 53-50 lead with 9:21 left in the game. They would not be headed the rest of the way.
 
A Mykayle Carter trey with 6:11 on the clock pulled the Bears to within a point, 61-60. But, the Lions scored the next seven points to extend their lead to 68-60, their largest lead of the day, with 3:27 remaining.
 
Stricklen nailed a pair of treys in the final 0:3.1, including one at the buzzer, but it was not enough as the Lions held on for the narrow win.
 
"We played our fifth game in 10 days," said Bears head coach Bryan Bender. "Our guys competed from start to finish. It's tough to be on the other end of one of these."
 
"We played really well, defensively," Bender continued. "We had great energy and focus in the first half. In the second half, we had (around) a five-minute lapse where we weren't as focused. We took a couple of bad shots, had some turnovers. They converted and all of a sudden it's an eight-point game. We made a shot (at the end) that made it look like a one-point game."
 
Moore and Stricklen both scored 17 points to top the Bears' offense. Blake scored 14 points while Carter tallied 11.
 
The Bears went 4-7 at the free throw line.
 
The Lions' Nick Walker scored 25 points to lead all scorers. He and his teammates combined to make 19 of 26 free throws.
 
The Bears remain at home for their next game, hosting Hinds at 6:00 on March 1.
 
 
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Players Mentioned

Mykayle Carter

#2 Mykayle Carter

G
6' 6"
Sophomore
Tada Stricklen

#4 Tada Stricklen

G
6' 0"
Redshirt Sophomore
Javius Moore

#1 Javius Moore

G/F
6' 7"
Freshman
Zae Blake

#5 Zae Blake

G
6' 1"
Freshman

Players Mentioned

Mykayle Carter

#2 Mykayle Carter

6' 6"
Sophomore
G
Tada Stricklen

#4 Tada Stricklen

6' 0"
Redshirt Sophomore
G
Javius Moore

#1 Javius Moore

6' 7"
Freshman
G/F
Zae Blake

#5 Zae Blake

6' 1"
Freshman
G