It was another tough night on the road for the Southwest Mississippi Community College basketball teams at Mississippi Gulf Coast as the Lady Bears dropped a 76-53 decision and the Bears went down 94-79.
Shanekqua Bibbs led all scorers in the women’s game with 22 points on the night. Shaniece Sheffield was also in double-figures with 18 points.
“I thought our kids really played hard and battled,” Southwest coach Brad Phillips said. “We just struggled shooting the ball and getting easy baskets. Their size and depth wore us down.”
After a Bibbs basket drew Southwest to within seven points, 38-31, early in the second half, it was all Gulf Coast (9-6, 3-2 South) the rest of the way. The Lady Bulldogs outscored the Lady Bears 26-7 during the next eight minutes to take a 64-38 lead.
Shameika Hart led the Gulf Coast with 16 points.
The men’s game was tight in the early going with four ties and three lead changes in the first 4:39.
Ahead 10-9 with 16:37 left in the first half, the Bears (7-8, 2-2 South) then saw Gulf Coast (14-2, 5-0) go on a 21-9 run to take a 30-19 lead with 8:24 on the clock. Southwest managed to stay close and go into the locker room at the half down 42-34.
With the exception of a 6:12 span, the second half belonged to Gulf Coast. After falling behind 71-45 with 11:30 left in the game, 3-pointers from Mark Bridgewater and Michael Hall propelled the Bears to a 22-8 scoring run and helped pull them to 79-67 with 5:18 to play. However, that was as close as Southwest could get.
“Rebounding and points off turnovers were the difference tonight,” Southwest coach Casey Carter said. “(Gulf Coast) dominated us in the paint with their size and strength and their guards were able to get easy buckets off sloppy passes in our half court.”
Despite the loss, Carter said he was extremely impressed with the never-quit attitude his team showed after falling behind 26 points in an extremely hostile environment.
“We will learn from tonight and our experience will make us better as we continue in South play,” he said.
Wesley Blackmon led the Southwest offense with 18 points. Josh Brannon and Bridgewater both totaled 17 points.
The Bulldogs’ Ice Asortse led five of his teammates in double figures with 19 points. Gulf Coast hit six of 18 free throws.
