Southwest Mississippi Community College coach Casey Carter stressed the importance of starting games better in the team’s 10-day layoff between its exit from the MACJC tournament last Monday and its debut in the NJCAA Region 23 tournament on Thursday.
Unfortunately for Southwest, the Bears found themselves down 34-10 just eight minutes into their opening-round matchup with Jones County before losing 109-83 to end their season.
“We talked about not getting off to slow starts and about starting better, but we weren’t able to do that tonight,” Carter said. “We got beat by a very good team.”
Leading 8-5 just two minutes into the action, Jones County sprung a 26-5 run to extend its lead to 34-10 with 12 minutes remaining until halftime. The Bobcats led by as many as 27 points in the first half and took a 25-point lead (66-41) into the break.
Southwest failed to pull closer than 20 points in the second half on its way to a season-ending defeat.
“Jones is a No. 1 seed for a reason,” Carter said. “They’re a really good team.”
Jones County shot 66 percent from the field (39-of-59), including 77 percent from inside the 3-point arc. The Bears shot just 43 percent from the field and committed 16 turnovers to the Bobcats’ nine.
Jones County’s super-trio of Thaddeus Hall, Leroy Fludd and Bryce Jones, all of whom hail from Brooklyn, N.Y., combined to score 66 points against the Bears. Hall scored a game-high 27 points, while Fludd added 26 in a winning effort.
The Bears were led by guard Jaylen Moore’s 24 points on 55 percent shooting (including 11 of 14 free throws). Forward Twymond Howard added 20 in the loss, while Deione Weeks and Corey Williams also reached double figures with 12 and 11 points, respectively.
The Bobcats had six players score in double figures Thursday.
Southwest finished the season with a final record of 12-13.
“We’re disappointed. We didn’t achieve what we thought we could achieve, and that’s always disappointing,” Carter said. “But we have a great group of guys that will succeed at whatever they do down the line.”
With the book officially closed on the Bears’ season, Carter has already begun to turn his focus to next year. Coming off two straight trips to the postseason, expectations have risen surrounding the basketball program in Summit.
Carter accepts and embraces that challenge.
“We get a week off next week for spring break, but then it’s back to setting a tone for next season.”
