Just two days removed from suffering their first conference loss, the Bears quickly regained their composure Saturday and overcame a tough task against a scrappy East Mississippi squad, hanging on for a 73-70 decision over the Lions.
"That was a fun one," said a relieved Bear head coach Corey Schmidt. "I'm proud of our guys for figuring out a way to win. Every game the rest of the way is going to be tough. We are going to have to find ways and I am just proud of our guys for finding a way."
For the first few minutes of the contest, both the Bears (11-7, 2-1) and the Lions tried to find their footing offensively.
Trailing 9-5 at the 15:53 mark, Southwest rallied. The Bears put together a 7-0 run to not only take their first lead of the contest but also grab a 12-9 advantage.
Not long afterward, the Bears unfortunately lost momentum, as the Lions put together a run of their own to put the hosts down 20-14 with just under 10:00 to go in the half.
The deficit for Southwest stretched to as much as nine at 29-20, but the Bears showed great resilience and narrowed the gap to just four at 35-31 entering the half.
Just over four minutes into the second half, the Bears once again grabbed the lead following a basket from Daylen Thomas, making the score 38-37.
Both teams traded the lead on multiple occasions over the next 5:00 of play.
With just under seven minutes to go, a make from Tylik Weeks gave the Bears the lead once again, one they would not relinquish for the rest of the contest.
Even though the Bears watched their advantage shrink to as little as one on two different occasions down the stretch, they never lost their cool.
With eleven seconds to go, Southwest held a slim 71-70 advantage.
Following a free throw miss by the Bears during a one-and-one attempt, the Lions grabbed the rebound but mistakenly called timeout with none remaining, resulting in a technical foul against East Mississippi that allowed Southwest two free throws attempts.
Fazl Oshodi connected on both, helping to seal the game.
Weeks led the charge for Southwest with 25 points while LeVionne Lindsey had 13, Josh Schonback 11 and Oshodi 10.
After the game, Weeks said it felt good to be playing back in Summit after opening conference play with two road contests.
"It definitely feels good to be home," he said. "Playing for the crowd, a great environment, we just needed a win. We had a couple of road games (and) we definitely had to get a win."
He added that he was proud of how his team turned things around just 48 hours removed from a tough loss.
"In the last game, we played hard but we couldn't get it together in the end," Weeks said. "Today, we fought back and that is the main thing. Coach teaches and preaches toughness and we brought a lot of toughness today."
