Last year, the Bears came up short in a hard-fought road battle against Bossier Parish. Fast forward one year and the roles were reversed as the Bears were not only the hosts, but the ones who came away with the victory, holding off a late Cavalier rally to secure a 91-89 win Tuesday on Day 2 of the 2023 Southwest Coca-Cola Classic.
"That is a really good basketball team," Southwest head coach Corey Schmidt said. "And I'm really proud of our guys making shots in the first half."
Of the 21 field goals Southwest (2-3) made in the first half, eight were 3-pointers, five of which coming from sophomore Deon Brown who got over a tough outing last night to elevate his level of play.
"Last night, I had a rough game, but I am just trusting my work because I put up shots every day," he said. "Eventually they are going to fall because hard work pays off."
While Brown stole the show in the first half with the long-ball, it was fellow sophomore Mark Drone who got things started with two 3-pointers of his own on back-to-back possessions helping Southwest race out to an 8-2 advantage.
That lead slowly started to increase as Brown and LeVionne Lindsey added field goals before Drone put one in himself with his coming at the 15:54 mark and giving the Bears a double-digit advantage at 14-4.
However, Bossier began to get into a rhythm and inch closer, pulling within five at about the 14:00 mark. But Southwest regained its composure and pulled way once again by as much as 13 just inside the 10:00 mark.
As time wound down in the first half, the Bear lead slowly increased. It grew to as much as 19 late in the first half following Brown's fifth 3-pointer, making the score 52-33.
That margin stayed true until halftime.
Two quick field goals to open the second half, gave the Bears their biggest lead of the night at 23. But not long afterward, the Cavaliers got into a groove, slowly chipping away at the Bear lead.
The Southwest lead dwindled down to as little as four points at 69-65 with 9:35 to go. After the Bears put a little more distance between themselves and their opponents, Bossier inched closer once again making it a 78-75 game with just over 6:00 to go.
Following a pair of Tylik Weeks makes giving the Bears new life, both teams went back and forth down the stretch. The Cavaliers narrowed the gap to three, but Weeks again put a stop to the rally with a big offensive rebound and a putback giving Southwest a 90-85 lead with under a minute to go.
Clinging to a 90-87 advantage, the Bears got a bit more security after relying upon Drone at the free throw line where he connected the second of two free throws making it a two-possession game.
"It was really just staying calm and not letting the first free throw phase me, stepping up and getting the big one when it mattered," he said.
Bossier got one more field goal as time expired but it wasn't enough as the Bears walked away with the win.
Drone finished with a team-high 27 points, while Weeks posted 24 and Brown poured in 20.
The Bears will host Coastal Alabama-South on Thursday at 6 p.m.
