Following a slow start for the Bears in Friday's road contest at Coastal Alabama – South on Day 2 of the Alabama/Mississippi Challenge, they slowly clawed their way back into the contest before hanging on in the end, securing a 97-94 win over the Coyotes.

The Bears (7-6) got off to a rough start, trailing by double-digits early on. The deficit grew by as much as 16 as Southwest found itself down 23-7 a little more than 7:00 into the contest.

"Early, we couldn't make shots," Southwest head coach Corey Schmidt said. "And we told the guys 'hey, they are shooting well right now and we are not. We have to keep playing hard, stay together and we will flip this thing." 

The Bears showed great resilience, slowly inching their way back into the contest before a Daron Walker layup with 4:30 to go in the first half gave Southwest a 36-35 advantage.

The Bears led 50-45 at the half.

In the second half, the Bears kept rolling on the offensive end, padding their lead into double digits but it didn't last long as the Coyotes hung around.

Part of the Bears' success came from long range as they nailed seven 3-pointers in the second half, two each from Fazl Oshodi and Shomari Jenkins, one of which from the latter coming at the 2:30 mark of the second half, putting Southwest up 93-85.

Down the stretch, the Coyotes closed the gap and pulled within three with under :30 to go and one with just :12 to go. But the Bears got late free throws from Oshodi to help ice the game.

Oshodi led the Bears with 29 points while Tylik Weeks posted 16 points.

Southwest will be back in action on Jan. 7 hosting Delgado at 6 p.m.