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Southwest Mississippi Community College

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Bears drop heart-breaker to Meridian, 98-93, in OT

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

Men's Basketball | 3/15/2021 8:47:00 PM

In yet another thrilling finish, the Bears were defeated at home Monday night by the Meridian Eagles, 98-93,in overtime in MACCC action.
 
Mykayle Carter nailed four three pointers in the first 3:51 to help the Bears take a 12-7.
 
With 9:48 left in the first half, the Bears took their largest lead of the game, 20-12, on a pair of Mazae Blake free throws.
 
Meridian (8-4, 8-3) then went on an 11-4 run to claim a 24-23 advantage with 5:56 left in the half.
 
The teams then traded baskets for several minutes. With 1:10 on the clock, a Lafollette Bogan dunk gave the Bears a 35-31 lead. But, Meridian fought back and hit a three pointer at the buzzer to take a 38-35 lead into the locker room.
 
With 17:03 left in regulation, Meridian took a 46-41 lead.
 
The Bears kept their composure and scored six straight, on a Javius Moore trey and old-fashioned three-point play to go ahead 47-46 with 16:18 on the clock.
The teams then again traded baskets for several minutes before Meridian went on a 16-5 run to take a 73-62 lead with 6:50 still to play.
 
The Bears, however, would not quit. With a layup and two free throws from Tada Stricklen serving as bookends, the Bears went on a 20-6 run to take an 82-79 with 1:18 on the clock.
 
With 0:29.2, a pair of Michael Barber free throws left the Bears (7-8, 6-7) on top 85-82. Meridian then tied the game at 85-85 with 0:22.3 showing.
 
The Bears had chances to win the game in regulation, but were unable to find the mark, thus forcing the extra play.
 
The Bears led for most of the overtime period and were up 89-85 with 4:00 left. Unfortunately, Meridian would then outscore the Bears 13-4 the rest of the way to escape with the win.
 
"We were on the wrong end of this one," said Bears head coach Bryan Bender, "but if you're not attached to outcomes you can say we competed out butts off and we played extremely hard from start to finish and (give) credit to our guys for not quitting and continuing to play."
 
"Hats off to Meridian," Bender concluded. "They played extremely hard (and) we played extremely hard. There always has to be a winner and a loser and, unfortunately, we were on the wrong end of that tonight."
 
Blake and Carter both scored 18 points to top the Bears' offense. Barber finished the game with 15 points while Moore scored 14 points, Stricklen scored 12 and Bogan had 10.
 
The Bears were nearly perfect at the free throw line, making 24 of 27.
 
Meridian's Justin Brown led all scorers in the game with 33 points. As a team, the Eagles went 15-22 at the free throw line.

The Bears take to the road for their next contest as they try to sweep the season series against the 9th-ranked Pearl River Wildcats in Poplarville on March 18. Tipoff is set for 6:00.
 
 
 
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Players Mentioned

Lafollette Bogan

#23 Lafollette Bogan

G/F
6' 3"
Sophomore
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
Michael Barber

#13 Michael Barber

F/C
6' 8"
Redshirt Sophomore

Players Mentioned

Lafollette Bogan

#23 Lafollette Bogan

6' 3"
Sophomore
G/F
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
Michael Barber

#13 Michael Barber

6' 8"
Redshirt Sophomore
F/C