After hanging on to defeat Southern-Shreveport on Day 1 of the 2024 Southwest Coca-Cola Classic, the Bears followed that up with a 65-59 win over Baton Rouge CC, Tuesday, on Day 2.

"The guys understood that we needed to be better tonight and we were better across the board," Southwest head coach Corey Schmidt said. "They (BRCC) got a little bit out in transition but other than that I think that we played the game the way we wanted to play."

Tylik Weeks led the Southwest once again with 22 points while Fazl Oshodi had 13 and Hami Ndiaye nine. While the offensive output was a bit lower than normal, the defense had a strong outing, especially in the paint.

"Going into the game, we worked on being in gaps next to the basket like in terms of stopping the ball but at the same time not allowing the pass to get off to the dump off, so I feel like that played a role," Ndiaye said.

Southwest (4-4) and Baton Rouge went back-and-forth in the early stages of the game. Weeks and Ndiaye did most of the heavy-hitting for the hosts offensively combining for 11 of the first 13 points in the game. Afterward LeVionne Lindsey and Jaylen
Haliburton entered the fray as Southwest took a 20-18 lead with just under 5:00 to go in the first half. Southwest scored the final five points of the half on a 3-pointer from Oshodi followed by a pair of free throws from Lindsey with just a second to go as the host Bears grabbed a 29-26 lead.

After the visitors pulled even at 29 early in the second half, the hosts rallied. A 13-0 run put Southwest ahead 42-29. "We just had to pick up the intensity," Nidaye said. "All year we have been getting small leads and not stretching them out and going into these two games in the Coca-Cola Classic, we needed to win these two games and stretching out the lead was a big part of that."

The offensive surge provided the momentum Southwest needed. Just past the halfway point of the second half, key makes from Weeks and Haliburton helped keep the hosts ahead as they shut down a late BRCC rally to preserve the win.

Southwest returns to action on Tuesday December 3^rd hosting Louisiana Knights Post Grad Academy at 7:30 p.m.