Thursday's game didn't start the way that Southwest head coach Corey Schmidt and his staff wanted, but they will definitely take the finish as the Bears stormed back from as much as a 15-point deficit in the first half to defeat the visiting Jones Bobcats 87-71 in non-conference action.
"I thought that we played really well and they (Jones) hit some tough shots early on in the game," Schmidt said. "Our guys did a good job of sticking with the game plan and continuing to make them make those tough shots and that they didn't make enough of them in the second half."
The Bears (5-4) got 21 points from Mark Drone while Jahshawne Joseph recorded 18 and Tylik Weeks 16.
Weeks got off to a good start with four points early on, but the Bobcats grabbed the lead and would not relinquish it in the early stages.
While the Southwest offense struggled a bit putting the ball in the basket, Jones got into a rhythm and jumped ahead by as much as 15 at 34-19 with about 6:00 to go in the first half.
Southwest began to get into a groove as Drone and Joseph nailed back-to-back 3-pointers firing up the crowd. Weeks followed that up with a basket before a pair of LeVionne Lindsey free throws capped-off a 10-0 run pulling the Bears within three at 34-31 with 1:58 to go in the half. That deficit was reduced to two at the half as Southwest trailed 38-36.
"We just didn't quit," Joseph said. "We just kept at it and running the stuff that our coach gave us."
Not even two minutes into the second half, the Bears took their first lead since early in the game as a beautiful Mark Drone pass across the key and by two defenders found Deon Brown before the fellow sophomore nailed a 3-pointer making it a 43-40 game in favor of the hosts. From then on, Southwest never relinquished the lead.
As Drone continued to shine, Joseph followed suit just before the midway point of the second half. He scored back-to-back baskets and followed them up shortly afterward with another make. His latest kick-started a 13-4 run that culminated with an Isaiah Morey 3-pointer making it a 69-54 advantage for Southwest.
From there, the Bears kept clicking as they eventually ran out the clock to seal the win.
After the game, Schmidt touched on how appreciative of the crowd Thursday night and the support his team receives.
"I've said this a million times since I've been here, but I love our community," he said. "I love our school, I love our students, I love our other coaches on campus that come out and support. We had our baseball coach run the shot clock tonight. Shout out to Coach Jack Edmonson who came out. His whole team was out here heckling Jones in the warm-up line, they were making me laugh a little bit. This is just a fun place to be."
The Bears remain home for their next contest, a 2 p.m. game Saturday against Baton Rouge CC.
