The Bears knew that they had a tough task ahead of them in the visiting Pearl River Wildcats Thursday evening. But they stuck to their fundamentals and rose to the occasion, playing their brand of basketball before pulling out a 65-62 win.
 
"I thought that a lot of guys stepped up and made some big plays," Southwest head coach Corey Schmidt said. "I told our guys in the locker room that I was just proud of the team as a whole of finding a way to win."
 
The Bears (13-10, 4-4 MACCC) got off to a fast start, especially on the defensive side as Southwest held Pearl River scoreless for the first 5:15 of the contest. However, once the Wildcats got their offense going, they pulled within striking distance, narrowing the Bear lead to three at 13-10.
 
The Bears continued to maintain their lead as time continued to tick away in the first half. With about 5:00 to go until halftime, Southwest went on a run as a basket from LeVionne Lindsey was followed up by a 3-pointer from Corey Lombard and a pair of makes from Drone, the first being a three-point play. Meanwhile the Bear defense once again shined as it held Pearl River scoreless over a 5:00 span. Even though the Wildcats closed the half with three made free throws, the Bears held a nine-point lead at 29-20.
 
The beginning of the second half was a different story for Southwest. A slow start resulted in Pearl River inching its way back into the contest before taking its first lead of the game. The Bears trailed by as much as seven as it couldn't find its shooting stroke. However, once they did, a pair of three-point plays - one from Drone and the other from Jahshawne Joseph - helped the Bears begin to claw their way back. The latter of the two pulled Southwest within one at 42-41 with 11:00 to go.
 
For nearly the next 8:00 of play, the Bears scored 13 points, the majority of which coming from Drone. After the game, he talked about the way that he put the team on his back.
 
"We went on a bit of a scoring drought so I felt like if I made the right plays and I made the play myself, it would create something to help us get back," Drone said.

Joseph connected on a big 3-pointer with around 3:00 to go pulling the Bears within three at 57-54. And after Drone got a tip-in to drop, reigning MACCC Men's Basketball Player of the Week Tylik Weeks followed that up with a basket of his own with 2:07 to go giving Southwest a 58-57 advantage and its first lead since a few minutes into the half.
 
Down the stretch a basket from Joseph along with free throws from Drone and TJ Wiley were key as the Bears held on to preserve the win.
 
Drone led all scorers with 26 points while Joseph also had a strong game with 21.
 
The Bears will be back in action on Tuesday at Coahoma at 7:30 p.m.