By Michael D. Gunnell

     Southwest Sports Information to                                                                                                                                             

Sophomore Antonio Cowart, Jr., recorded a triple-double to help the Bears withstand a late-game rally by the Delgado Dolphins and pick up an 86-80 win Thursday night in Summit.

Cowart, a McComb High School graduate, ended the game with 14 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists.

The Bears (3-0) took an early 8-3 lead. Later, a pair of Jeremy Harrell free throws pushed the Bears out to a 20-12 lead with 10:29 before the end of the half.

Robert Boyd's trey with 7:11 on the clock then helped the Bears take a double-digit lead, 34-24, with 7:11 on the clock.

After seeing the Dolphins (1-3) trim their lead to 36-32 with 5:56 before the end of the half, a layup from Antonio Cowart, Jr., moved the Bears' lead back to eight points, 41-32, with 3:57 on the clock. They then took a 41-33 lead into intermission.

Back-to-back buckets from Roydell Brown pushed the Bears out to a 45-32 lead early in the second half. Boyd then nailed a jumper with 18:48 to go to make the score 49-36.

After seeing their lead cut to 52-46, the Bears went on an 11-3 run, capped by a TJ Ben long-range jumper and moved out to a 63-49 lead with 11:26 to go. A pair of free throws by Ben then made it 69-55 with 8:21 left.

The Dolphins then began their comeback attempt, going on a 16-6 run, to pull to within four points, 75-71, with 3:36 left. That would be as close as they would get the rest of the way, however, as the teams traded baskets the remainder of the game and the Bears went 6-7 from the free throw line to pick up the win.

"I'm very excited for these young guys to be able to fight through another tough contest," Bears' head coach Thomas Gray said after the game. "We're going to have those. In the MACJC and Region 23, you're going to have tough games."

          "Down the stretch I thought that it was very encouraging for us to step up defensively (and) a couple of big stops and free throws," Gray continued. "It was pretty at the beginning of the game, but at the end of the second half when we needed them to go in, they went in and I'm really excited to see that."

In addition to Cowart, Jr., four other Bears scored in double figures. Brown had 13 points, Ben 11 and Boyd and Lagarious White both totaled 10. The Bears made 21 of 36 free throws.

The Dolphins' Venjie Wallis led all scorers with 26 points. He and his teammates combined to make 16 of 23 free throws.

The Bears return to the home hardwood on Monday as they close out day one of the annual Southwest/Coca-Colas Classic with a 7:15 matchup against Southern-Shreveport.