BATON ROUGE — Southwest dropped a pair of non-division basketball games on the road at Baton Rouge Community College on Monday night as the Lady Bears went down 63-45 and the Bears were defeated 80-76.
In the men's game, it came down to the wire in the finale minute. A Cory Lacy layup with 6.8 on the clock cut BRCC’s lead to 78-76 but two free throws from Jordan Bedford sealed the deal for BRCC, however, as the Bears' late rally fell short.
“Tonight, we did the exact opposite of what we've done in the past,” said Southwest coach Casey Carter. “In that we started slow and finished really strong. We just didn't quite understand the toughness and attention to detail that it takes to win on the road and that comes back to me. We will be tougher Thursday night at Delgado.”
The Bears (2-2) took an early 3-0 lead on a Michael Hall three-pointer and built a nine point lead, 22-13, with 12:00 left in the half. BRCC (2-3) then battled back and took a 25-24 lead on a Matt LeBato layup with 9:18 remaining before the break. The lead switched hands four more times before BRCC took a 41-38 advantage into the locker room at the intermission.
BRCC held on to its slim lead through most of the second half before exploding to a 14-point advantage, 72-58, with 3:58 left to play.
Lacy totaled 21 points, three assists and two steals to lead Southwest on the night while Mark Bridgewater netted 19.
Hall had nine points in the game with Wesley Blackmon and Mikel Henry both adding eight points and Josh Brannon chipping in four. Curtis Haynes scored three points. The Bears hit 19 of 31 free throws.
Tyson Goldwire and LeBato both had 17 points to pace BRCC.
After a close first half, the Lady Bears (1-3) fell behind by 10 points, 41-31, with 13:38 left in the second half before a pair of Shaniece Sheffield free throws brought them back to within six points, 45-39, with 7:51 remaining.
Southwest continued to battle hard, but was unable to get any closer as BRCC went on an 18-6 run to close out the game and pull away for the easy win.
“We got worn down by their size and athleticism,” Southwest coach Brad Phillips said. “(But) I thought the kids played hard and battled to the end.”
Shanekqua Bibbs had 13 points to pace Southwest while Sheffield added 12 points. Lacey Orr and Janessa Reynolds both scored four points with Orr picking up 11 rebounds. Alexis Avery netted three points while Cassie Berry and Tyeshia Harris both had two. The Lady Bears made good on 16 of 26 free throws.
BRCC's Tallah Robertson led all scorers with 14 points.
Southwest returns to the road Thursday as it travels to New Orleans to face Delgado. Game times are 5 p.m. for the women and 7 p.m. for the men.
