Losing consecutive games is something that the Southwest Mississippi Community College men have been fortunate enough not to do this season.
That was until Saturday, when the Bears lost steam late falling to visiting East Mississippi in heartbreaking fashion, 76-75.
“We played our fifth game in 10 days and our guys competed from start to finish,” SMCC head coach Bryan Bender said. “It is tough to be on the other end of one of these. We played really well defensively, we had energy and focus in the first half. In the second half we had a five-minute lapse where we weren’t as focused, took some bad shots, and they converted.”
Early on, the Bears (7-4) found themselves down by as many as five before storming back. A 6-0 run consisting of a basket from Malik Lamin and a pair of field goals from Mazae Blake gave SMCC its first lead of the game at 13-12.
Both teams continued to battle, resulting in four lead changes over the next four-plus minutes of play. Trailing 19-15, the Bears put together another run, this time a 7-0 rally to take a three point lead.
SMCC maintained that lead over the Lions (7-3), even though they narrowed the deficit to four on three different occasions in the latter stages of the first half.
A Blake 3-pointer opened the second half, pushing the Bear lead to seven at 38-31. However the Lions closed the gap and pulled even at 40 at the 16:50 mark.
A Tada Stricklen three-point play broke the tie putting SMCC ahead, however it would be the last lead of the contest for the Bears.
Over the next few minutes of play the Bears tied the ball game on two occasions but could not jump back on top.
With about five minutes to go, Mykale Carter connected on a 3-pointer cutting the deficit to one at 61-60.
However, the Lions responded with a 7-0 run taking a 68-60 lead with 3:27 to play.
Despite the deficit, SMCC kept fighting.
Stricklen made a 3-pointer with 42.9 seconds on the clock pulled the Bears within four.
He nailed another 3 a few minutes later cutting the deficit to two.
But a pair of free throws from East Mississippi’s Jakorie Smith put SMCC down by four once again with only a few seconds left.
Stricklen got the ball and launched a lengthy 3-point shot at the buzzer while also trying to draw a foul in the process and attempt a free throw. He made the shot, but did not get the foul call, ending the game and giving the Lions a one-point victory.
Stricklen led the Bears with 17 points. The Lions were led by Nick Walker, who had a game-high 25 points.
