A rough start in the first half hurt the Bears Saturday as they were unable to complete the comeback in the end, falling 79-68 to Pensacola State on Day 1 of the Chipola Classic in Marianna, FL.
 
"I thought that we competed and played hard," Southwest head coach Corey Schmidt said. "Our focus and attention to detail is something that we have to clean up. We have to do a better job of finding ways to score."
 
In the first half, the Bears (1-1) as a team had difficulty putting the ball in the hoop. Individually, Mark Drone shined with 11 of his team-high 25 points in the first 20:00 of play.
 
On the defensive side, the Bears were able to limit the Pirates to just 36 points in the first half, keeping Southwest within striking distance down by only eight at the half.
 
In the second half, the Bear offense began to pick up more as Deon Brown got his game going, complementing the stellar play from Drone. In addition to Brown, Joe Haze Austin, TJ Wiley, Blake Hart and Jahshawne Joseph all made 3-pointers. Southwest was able to post 40 points in the second half.
 
Despite this, the Pirates continued to find ways to score putting up another 43 points handing the Bears the loss.
 
In addition to Drone's 25 points, Brown and Tylik Weeks had eight apiece.
 
The Bears will be back in action on Sunday at 3 p.m. as they face Chipola.