Despite hanging with East Mississippi for most of Monday's road conference game, the Bears couldn't get over the hump in the end, falling to the host Lions, 73-65.
 
"We just got in a hole early and we couldn't get ourselves out of it," Southwest head coach Corey Schmidt said. "We had a game plan to start but we didn't execute."
 
The Bears (10-7, 1-1 MACCC) fell behind early as they struggled defensively to slow down a potent Lion attack. Southwest trailed by as much as nine in the early stages of the game but they slowly began to get their offense in a rhythm. Back-to-back makes from Mark Drone pulled the Bears within four at 13-9 but two-consecutive 3-pointers by East Mississippi quickly ballooned the deficit back to 10.
 
The Lions once again rallied to extend the deficit to 16 but the Bears regained focus and narrowed the gap a bit. Southwest continued to fight hard but East Mississippi stayed one step ahead and took a 41-31 lead into the locker room at the half.
 
The Bears found their groove in the beginning stages of the second half. Two 3-pointers from Deon Brown were accompanied by a pair of makes from Drone as the visitors shrunk the lead down to as little as four once again with about 13:00 remaining.
 
Despite the reinvigorated play, Southwest could not grab the lead as East Mississippi grew its advantage before running out the clock and handing the Bears the loss.
 
Three Bears finished in double figures in scoring as Drone had 15 points while Jahshawne Joseph recorded 13 and Brown 10.
 
Southwest returns home Thursday to play host to Holmes at 7:30 p.m.