Bears hold off Warriors for victory

Thursday December 7, 2023: Men's Basketball

Baton Rouge, LA

It was a nail bitter in the Bears Den tonight as the Baton Rouge Bears and the East Central Warriors would meet in a rematch of an earlier season game.  The game came down to the wire, but the Bears would close out the game on an 8 to 4 run to seal the 76 to 72 victory over the Warriors.

The first half was a back-and-forth affair between these two ball clubs. Up until the 4:39 mark in the first half the game saw 4 ties and 10 lead changes. Each team took turns trading buckets and the lead. To that point the largest lead either team would have would be four points. After the game was tied at 24, the Bears would take some control as they would close out the half on a 14-6 run fueled by Arzika Seibou, Tyrael- Cage Heke, and Seviuhn Turner and Kialen Phillips. The Bears would take a 38 to 30 lead into halftime.

In the second half, the East Central Warriors would not go away as they would open the half on a 15-9 run to pull within two points;47-45 with 13:05 left in the game. The Bears would extend their lead to seven points;60-53 with 7:40 remaining. East Central would fight back and go on a 15 to 8 run to tie the game at 68 with 3:53 remaining. The Bears would seal the game from the free throw line as they scored eight points from the free throw line in the remaining three minutes of the game to seal the 76 to 72 victory.

Baton Rouge was led in scoring by Jarrell Love with 18 points. The Bears had 5 student athletes score in double figures. East Central was led in scoring by Demarcus Powe with 20 points. The Warriors had 2 student athletes score in double figures.

With the victory the Bears improve to 5-7, while the Warriors fall to 6-6 on the season. With the Bears win the overall series record is tied at 2 wins a piece.

Bears Highlights:

Jarrell Love led the Bears with 18 points.

Tyrael- Cage Heke added 17 points.

Arzika Seibou scored 13 points.

Jaylen Streeter and Kialen Phillips each had 10 points.

The Bears will hit the road as they travel to Utica, Mississippi this Saturday December 9, 2023, to take on the Hinds Community College Bulldogs at 4 pm at J.D. Boyd Gym-Earl Joe Nelson Court.

Side Note: With this victory the Bears now have 150 wins in program history.

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