The playoff push is well underway and despite having two players score in double digits for the host Bears Monday, the postseason positioning took an unfortunate hit as Southwest lost a heart breaker to Meridian, 76-75.
 
"We've had a lot of these close losses and they stink, they hurt because you are just one play away from winning the game," Southwest head coach Corey Schmidt said. "I told our guys that we just have to play a more complete, 40-minute game."
 
Early on, the Bears (15-12, 6-6 MACCC) established their game, jumping out to a 10-2 lead through the first 2:53 of the contest, fueled by a pair of 3-pointers from Fazl Oshodi.
 
As time continued to tick away in the first half, the Bears maintained their lead getting key baskets from Tylik Weeks and Jaylen Haliburton in addition to a 3-pointer from Daylen Thomas.
 
Despite this, Meridian hung around and stayed within striking distance. The Southwest lead was cut to as little as two with 7:40 to go in the first half, but the Bears rallied once again to pull away to 30-21.
 
Southwest closed the half strong, taking a 42-32 lead at the intermission.
 
In the second half, the Bears carried over some of the momentum built and grew their lead to as much as 15 with 15:30 to go.

However, afterward, the Eagles rallied over the next 5:30 of play to reduce the Bear advantage down to one at 59-58.
 
Southwest quickly righted their wrongs and pulled away once again thanks to Weeks and LeVionne Lindsey who led the charge.
 
Despite this, the Eagles got back into rhythm, tying the game before eventually taking their first lead of the contest at 71-70 with 2:15 to go.

Lindsey came up big for Southwest over the next 1:30 of play, doing damage from the free throw line and the field. The Bears led 75-73 with :43 to go but Meridian got a 3-point-play down the stretch to to take the win.
 
Lindsey led Southwest with 19 points while Weeks poured in 18.
 
Southwest closes the road portion of the regular season Thursday at 7:30 p.m. against Gulf Coast.