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Southwest Mississippi Community College

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Bears win 75-73 thriller over visiting Jones

By: Michael D. Gunnell, Southwest Sports Information
Tada Stricklen
Chuck Barnes

Men's Basketball | 2/5/2021 5:09:00 AM

A Michael Barber layup with 0:39.7 on the clock and a Javius Moore free throw with 0:5.2 left helped the Bears overcome a 10-point, second half deficit Thursday night to pick up a thrilling 75-73 win over the visiting Jones Bobcats.
 
With the win, the Bears moved to 3-1 on the young season while Jones fell to 1-3.
 
Barber's dunk just 0:06 into the game gave the Bears an early lead, but Jones quickly overcame the slight deficit. Outscoring the Bears 32-14, the visitors took a 32-16 lead with 8:33 left in the opening half.
 
The Bears then went on an 11-5 scoring spurt, capped by a Tada Stricklen three pointer to pull to within 37-27 with 5:38 on the clock.
 
Barber's late layup then sent the Bears into intermission trailing 45-36.
 
The Bears continued to battle in the second half. But, each time they would pull close, the visitors would regain their control.
 
Trailing 60-50 with 11:46 left in the game, the Bears finally began to find themselves. Going on an 11-2 run, capped by a Querrion Gadson trey, the Bears went on top 61-60 with 8:38 still to play.
 
The teams then traded the lead seven times the rest of the way. Jones led 73-72 with 0:57 remaining before Barber made his way to the goal to put the Bears up for good and they went on to claim the narrow victory.
 
"I'm really proud of our guys for persevering, not quitting," said Bears head coach Bryan Bender. "When you have one of our better players get hurt (Stricklen left the game late with an injury)-and he's one of our leaders, too, in terms on energy-we were able to get some stops (and) some guys stepped up."
 
"We win on defense," Bender concluded, "and our second half performance on the defensive end is what won us the game."
 
Barber finished the night with a team-high 20 points. Gadson followed with 15 points while Stricklen ended the game with 12 points.
 
The Bears made 19 of 27 free throws.
 
Jones' Ashton Campbell led all scorers with 23 points in the game. The Bobcats were 5-7 at the free throw line.

The Bears return to the court on February 6 when they travel to Scooba to face East Mississippi. Tipoff is set for 2:00.
 
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Players Mentioned

Querrion Gadson

#10 Querrion Gadson

G
6' 1"
Sophomore
Tada Stricklen

#4 Tada Stricklen

G
6' 0"
Redshirt Sophomore
Javius Moore

#1 Javius Moore

G/F
6' 7"
Freshman
Michael Barber

#13 Michael Barber

F/C
6' 8"
Redshirt Sophomore

Players Mentioned

Querrion Gadson

#10 Querrion Gadson

6' 1"
Sophomore
G
Tada Stricklen

#4 Tada Stricklen

6' 0"
Redshirt Sophomore
G
Javius Moore

#1 Javius Moore

6' 7"
Freshman
G/F
Michael Barber

#13 Michael Barber

6' 8"
Redshirt Sophomore
F/C