A buzzer-beating rebound and basket at the end of regulation by Xavion Dillon, and free throws in overtime by Jaylen Moore helped the Southwest Bears overcome a 16-point second half deficit Monday night and pick up an 88-87 win on the road at Mississippi Gulf Coast.
Dillon grabbed a missed free throw and dropped the ball in the basket as time expired to force overtime. Moore then went five of six from the free throw line in the extra session, nailing a pair with nine seconds left, to give the Bears a victory.
The win avenged a home loss to Gulf Coast earlier this season and gave the Bears a record of 11-7. Now at 5-4, the Bears are tied with Pearl River for third place in the MACJC South Division.
Gulf Coast dropped to 14-4 and into second place in the South with a 7-2 mark. Southwest has now taken down the South division’s top two teams in consecutive games.
“I’m really proud of the way we were able to fight back and finish the game after not playing well more of the night,” said Bears’ head coach Casey Carter.
Things looked bleak for Southwest most of the night. Falling behind by 10 points, 20-10, with 10:33 to play in the first half, the Bears cut the lead to six points on three separate occasions. The Bulldogs found an answer each time, and took an 39-28 lead into intermission.
The Bulldogs seemed on the verge of a blowout win early in the second half as they scored seven of the first nine points of the half to take a 46-30 lead with 18:21 left in the game. Southwest would then cut the lead to 10 points four different times, but as with the first half, the Bulldogs would find an answer to extend their lead again.
Trailing by 10 with 10:33 left, the Bears slowly but surely began their comeback. Outscoring Gulf Coast 23-15 over the next 10:27, the Bears then found themselves down by only three points, 79-76, with four seconds on the clock and Jaylen Moore at the free throw line.
Moore nailed his first attempt to make the score 79-77. The second shot rattled out, but Dillon was in the right place at the right time for the Bears to force overtime.
The Bears took their first lead of the night, 81-79, on Dillon’s layup with 4:29 left in the extra period. Gulf Coast then scored seven of the next eight points to go up by four, 84-82, with 55 seconds to play.
Moore hit a jumper and two free throws to tie the game at 86-apiece before Gulf Coast’s Chris Bilbo split a pair of free throws to give his team an 87-86 lead with 15 seconds left.
A Gulf Coast foul then put Moore at the free throw line. Moore calmly nailed two shots, putting the Bears on top. Gulf Coast tried furiously, but failed to get a shot off as time ran out, allowing the Bears to leave Perkinston with the win.
“When you get 51 total points from your point guards you are going to have a chance,” Carter said, referring to Moore and fellow guard Chris Jones. “Winning at Gulf Coast is not easy at all, so we are very excited.”
Moore and Jones dropped in 26 and 25 points, respectively, to lead the Bears. Corey Williams also was in double figures with 12 points.
Twymond Howard had nine points in the game, along with 10 rebounds, while Deione Weeks scored eight. Southwest hit 26 of 35 free throws.
Tony Bridges and Rogers Woods each scored 26 points to lead Gulf Coast. The Bulldogs struggled at the free throw line, hitting just 25 of 42.
The Bears will try to avenge another loss Thursday night when they return home to face arch-rival Co-Lin. Tipoff is set for 7:15.
Lady Bears can’t complete comeback
The Southwest Lady Bears fell just short in attempting to overcome a 16-point, second-half rally in Perkinston Monday night as they fell 62-59 to homestanding Mississippi Gulf Coast.
The loss, only their third of the season, dropped the Lady Bears to 15-3 overall and into a three-way tie for first place with Meridian and Pearl River in the MACJC South at 7-2. Gulf Coast improved to 7-10 and 3-6 in division play.
The teams played each other close for most of the first half, reaching four ties in the first nine minutes. The Lady Bears took their biggest lead, 14-8, on Fredrikah Wilson’s bucket with 11:03 to play.
Gulf Coast took control from there, outscoring the Lady Bears 23-8 over the next 10 minutes, to take a 36-23 lead with 1:14 left in the half. A pair of Katrina Littlepage free throws cut the deficit 36-25 at the break.
All seemed lost for Southwest early in the second half as a Salinda Brown jumper with 18:56 to play put Gulf Coast up 41-25. The Lady Bears cut into the lead, narrowing it down to 46-38 on a Talisa Sherman layup with 13 minutes left on the clock.
Later in the half, the Lady Bears went on an 18-5 run to pull back to within one point, 57-56, with 2:16 left in the game.
Unfortunately for the Lady Bears, Gulf Coast recovered to score five of the game’s final eight points to escape with the narrow victory.
Southwest second-year head coach Brent Harris said after the game that his team “showed very little discipline on defense tonight, which cost us late.”
But, he also said he was “proud of our rally in the second half. We will learn from tonight and improve as a team.”
Littlepage topped the Southwest offense with 21 points on 7 of 10 shooting from the field and 7 of 10 shooting from the free throw line.
Wilson added nine points in the game, while April Levy had eight and Talisa Sherman scored seven. The Lady Bears made 11 of 18 free throws.
Christa Owen scored 21 to lead the Gulf Coast offense. The Lady Bulldogs hit 17 of 27 free throws.
The Lady Bears are back at home Thursday night when they take on arch-rival Co-Lin. Game time is set for 5:30.
