PERKINSTON — Mississippi Gulf Coast held Hinds scoreless for nearly the first six minutes of the game and went on to win 80-66 on Thursday at the Weathers/Wentzell Center.

The Bulldogs (11-6, 5-3 MACJC South) never trailed, led by as many as 25, and moved into sole possession of third place in the division. They are one game back of Copiah-Lincoln and Pearl River.

"I thought we played well for the most part until the last four minutes," Gulf Coast coach Wendell Weathers said. "We're getting better. Our defense was really, really good tonight. We're executing on our offense."

Dedoch Chan (Fr, Rochester, Minn./John Marshall) led Gulf Coast with 29 points, 18 of them in the second half.

"I was feeling really good," said Chan, who has 50 points in his last two games. "Everything I shot was going in. I'm just trying to play fast and be aggressive. We were getting easy shots at the rim. We were attacking the rim and dishing to the open man."

Keevon Oney (Fr, Gulfport/Gulfport) was the first Bulldog in double-digits midway through the first half and finished with 16.

Gulf Coast sprinted to a 12-0 lead before Hinds' first bucket 5:55 into the game. Hinds would trim the lead to two with 8:23 left before halftime, but the Bulldogs pulled away to a 39-25 lead at the break.

LaRaymond Spivery (Fr, Lucedale/George County) scored 12 of his 15 points in the second half, and DaJuan Moorer (Fr, Pensacola, Fla./Pensacola Catholic) added 10.

Gulf Coast led 65-40 with 8:19 left but got sloppy, allowing Hinds (6-9, 3-5) to trim the lead to nine. The Bulldogs scored the next nine points to go up 80-62 and salt away the win.

"The only people who can beat us is us," Weathers said. "If we don't beat ourselves, we're hard to beat. That's what we've got to try to get to."

Gulf Coast, winners of three straight, travels to Wesson on Monday to play Copiah-Lincoln. Tipoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. The Bulldogs return home Thursday to play East Central.

For more information on MGCCC's 10 intercollegiate athletic teams, follow @MGCCCAthletics on Twitter and BulldogLIVE on Facebook, and go to mgcccbulldogs.com.

Don Hammack

Sports Information Director