After a bit of a rough first half, the Bears turned things around in the second before pulling away and securing an 86-73 win at home Wednesday over Louisiana Knights Post Grad Academy.
"I don't think that we had a good mindset coming out to start the game on the defensive side of the floor," Southwest head coach Corey Schmidt said. "I thought that we attacked the paint well but I thought that our mindset on the defensive side was lacking. I thought that we came out in the second half and had a little chip there."
For the first 20:00 of play, the Bears (7-4) were locked in a battle with the Knights. In the early stages the majority of the Southwest scoring came from Mark Drone as the sophomore and Jackson-native scored seven of the Bears' first 13 points. His latest make during that stretch was a 3-pointer giving the hosts a one-point advantage at 13-12.
Right afterward a pair of Isaiah Morey 3-pointers was followed-up by one from Deon Brown but the Knights' offense also got in rhythm as the visitors kept pace.
Towards the latter stages of the first half, the Bear defense stepped up while the offense went on yet another run. After a basket from Tylik Weeks, a pair of Drone makes were bookends to an 8-4 run. Following two Knight free throws, the Bears still held a five-point lead at 41-36.
Coach Schmidt and his staff made the right adjustments for his team during the intermission.
"In the first half we were playing kind of relaxed," said Drone who finished with a game-high 27 points. "So, in the second half, we came out and we had it in our minds that we were going to play hard, play together and play defense."
A 10-1 run to start the period gave the Bears a 14-point advantage at 51-37. The run consisted of a make from Drone followed by six-consecutive points from Weeks and a pair of free throws from Deon Brown.
Around the 16:40 mark, Drone made a 3-pointer but afterward, the Southwest offense went cold. A 15-2 Louisiana run put the Knights right back in the ball game as the Bears hung on to a two-point lead.
But it wasn't long before the Southwest offense and defense woke up and got back to playing a better brand of basketball. The combination of Weeks and Jahshawne Joseph on the inside was complemented by baskets from Darrius Thames and Drone. Afterward the free throw shooting of Drone was key as he connected on 5-of-6 in three-consecutive trips to the charity stripe. When the dust settled, the Bears enjoyed a 72-59 advantage.
Down the stretch, a pair of 3-pointers from Brown and another from Thames helped keep the Bears in front as they eventually sealed the win.
In addition to Drone's big night, the Bears also got double-digit scoring from Weeks who had 14 and Brown who posted 11.
The Bears will close out the fall stretch of their schedule on the road Saturday at Mississippi Delta at 2 p.m.
