Area fans stormed the court Thursday night in celebration of Southwest Mississippi Community College’s incredible 72-71 upset win over No.16-ranked Mississippi Gulf Coast.
Southwest’s Devin Flowers drained a free throw in the final seconds to send the capacity crowd into hysteria as they rushed the court when Gulf Coast’s desperation shot at the buzzer fell short.
Southwest coach Casey Carter received a postgame Gatorade shower, normally used in football games.
“That was as good a game as I’ve ever been a part of and I’ve been a part of some big ones. This win was not just for our team, but it was for Southwest as a whole,” he said. “Credit first off has to go to (Southwest president) Dr. (Steve) Bishop. He met with me Tuesday morning and asked what we needed to do to pack the house. Whatever we did obviously worked because I have not seen such an atmosphere in my five years in the league as good as it was tonight. Thank you to the faculty, staff, students and the community for showing up and showing out.”
The win avenged an earlier 94-79 loss in Perkinston. Southwest moves to 10-11 overall (5-5 in the MACJC South Division). Though not assuring themselves of a spot in the upcoming state playoffs with the win, the Bears took a giant step toward that goal. The Bulldogs fell to 19-3 (10-1).
While the game was close most of the way, Southwest had to battle back early in the second half. The Bulldogs quickly went on top 33-31 with 19:32 left in the game and slowly built their lead to 54-46 with 11 minutes to play.
Gulf Coast watched as Southwest slowly and methodically drew closer before tying the game at 66-66 on a Mikel Henry 3-pointer with 3:11 left to play.
The two squads traded blows down the stretch. With Southwest down 71-70 and only 5 seconds to play, Mark Bridgewater hit one of two free throws to tie the game at 71-71. The Bulldogs then were whistled for a foul which paved the way for Flowers’ game winner.
“Bridgewater, (Cory) Lacy and Wesley Blackmon are the guys who lead us,” Carter said, “And man, did they lead us tonight.”
Blackmon scored 21 points on the night — 18 in the second half — to lead all scorers. Lacy tallied 19 points and Bridgewater had 16.
Angel Matias’ 16 points led Gulf Coast in the contest.
Meanwhile, in the women’s game, Southwest fell 73-65. Shaniece Sheffield and Shanekqua Bibbs led the Lady Bears (3-18, 0-10) with 26 and 22 points, respectively.
