PERKINSTON — Mississippi Gulf Coast’s defensive intensity and work on the glass led the Bulldogs to a 64-58 win over archrival Pearl River. It’s the first time since the 2016-17 season they’ve beaten the Wildcats twice in a season.
“They’ve been very, very good the last 20 years,” Gulf Coast coach Owen Miller said. “To get them here in conference play matters. We needed this one because we just lost one, and now we’ve got to go on the road Monday. This was big for us. I’m relieved, and we’re on to the next one.”
The Bulldogs improved to 12-7 overall, 4-3 in MACCC play. They’re tied for fourth in the conference. Pearl River (18-3) took its first loss in conference play, falling to 5-1 and out of first place. Gulf Coast won a November non-conference game in Poplarville 85-79.
Gulf Coast got huge contributions off the bench from Javeon Gordon (So., Mount Olive/Mount Olive), who led the team with 16 points, and Larry Lee (Fr., Utica/Raymond) who had all eight of his points in a critical stretch of the second half after the Wildcats had made a run.
They scored the first seven points after halftime to slash into a 41-28 deficit. PRCC got as close to four when Omarion Smith (So., Atlanta Ga./Douglas County) finally hit a shot from the right block for the first points in over five minutes of play.
Gordon followed with a 3-pointer to push the lead back to 48-37. Gordon made 4-of-5 from behind the arc. Lee got eight of the Bulldogs’ next 12 points, helping push the lead back to 12 with 6:43 to play.
“He was huge,” Miller said. “He carried us in that stretch in the second half when we couldn’t score. We came out the second half and I think the first five possessions, we didn’t score and took some bad shots. Larry got us going offensive rebounding. He was making put-backs. He did it against really quality big guys for Pearl River.”
The Wildcats got as close as 58-53 with 4 minutes left, but Anthony Robinson (So., Long Beach/Long Beach) hit a left-wing jumper, and Gordon buried a 3 to salt away the win.
“That was a lot of it tonight,” Miller said. “They pose a lot of problems for a defense with their size, and they’ve got good guard play. I thought our guys took the scouting report and executed. We didn’t do anything different; I just thought our focus was better leading up to this.”
Duran Parish (Fr., Biloxi/Biloxi) had 10 of his 12 points in the first half, and Jabbari Barry (Fr., Lake Charles La./Barbe) had 11. Smith led Gulf Coast with 12 rebounds.
The Bulldogs travel to Clarksdale on Monday. Tipoff against Coahoma is set for 7:30 p.m.
For more information on MGCCC’s 11 intercollegiate athletic teams, follow @MGCCCBulldogs on Twitter and MGCCCBulldogs on Facebook, and go to mgcccbulldogs.com.
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