by Michael D. Gunnell
Southwest Sports Information
The Bears pushed the Jones Bobcats to the brink Tuesday night, overcoming a 19-point second-half deficit to force overtime, before dropping an 84-76 MACJC South Division contest at home.
The Bears led most of the first half. A massive slam dunk by Arturro Bingham put the home team up early, 2-0.
Damian Dear would score 16 points for the Bears over the next 13:00 to help the Bears to a 24-19 lead with 6:35 on the clock.
A pair of Robert Kendrick free throws, with 6:07before half time, would leave the Bears (10-4, 2-3) with their largest lead of the half, 26-19.
The Bobcats then began finding the range, outscoring the Bears 21-7 the rest of the half to take a 40-33 lead into the locker room at the break.
Going on a 16-4 run to open the second half, the Bobcats move out to a comfortable 56-37 lead with 14:29 remaining.
But, the Bears would not go away quietly as they outscored the Bobcats (10-4, 4-1) 31-12 over the next 12:26. A long-range jumper from Bob Boyd brought the Bears to within a pair, 68-66, before a pair of Dear free throws tied the game at 68-68 with 1:12 left in regulation
Both teams had their chances to win the game in the final 0:62, but were unable to do so thus forcing the extra 5:00.
Overtime belonged to the visitors as they raced out to a 79-69 lead with 2:44 on the clock. Another Boyd trey trimmed the Bears' deficit to 81-74 with 1:26 on the clock, but they would not get any closer as the visitors left town with the win.
"There's no quit in our group," said Bears head coach Bryan Bender. "When you have a group of guys who keep trusting what you say and plays hard as they can, you just hope for the best."
"We had a chance at the end (of regulation)," Bender continued, "but some nights things don't always fall your way. But, we grew up tonight (and) we learned how to mature as a group. We had some guys step up and (that is) always fun to see because they've been waiting for their chance. I wish the outcome had been different, but, we'll go back to work and see what happens next."
Dear led the Bears, and all scorers, with 24 points. Boyd and Kendrick both scored 14 points while Bingham netted 12. The Bears hit 13 of 23 free throws.
Galen Alexander topped the Bobcats' offense with 21 points. He and his teammates hit 11 of 16 free throws.
The Bears take the road for their next game, visiting Pearl River in Poplarville Thursday night. The South Division contest is set for a 7:30 tipoff.