Bears lose Southwest Mississippi Coca-Cola Classic opener

Monday November 15, 2021: Men's Basketball 

Summit, MS

The Baton Rouge Bears opened the 2021 Southwest Mississippi Coca-Cola Classic with a match up with the Hinds Community College Bulldogs, this afternoon, in Summit. The Bears could not comeback from a first half hot start by the Hinds Bulldogs thus losing by the final score of 91 to 72.

The Bears would get on the board first with a quick three pointer by freshman guard Jayhlon Young to take an early advantage. Kemar Benn would hit a jumper to tie the game at eleven with 15:39, in the first half. After the game was tied at 11, Hinds would go on a 36 to 15 run to close out the first half with a 47 to 26 lead. Hinds was connecting on everything they put up on the offensive end while the Bears struggled to gain any rhythm on that end of the floor.

At the half, the Bears coaching staff encouraged their guys to continue to fight and break down the game into five minute segments and win those segments to give them a chance.  In the second half, the Bears came out more aggressive on the defensive end forcing the Bulldogs into some turnovers which helped jump start the Bear's offense. The Bears would outscore the Bulldogs 46 to 44, in the second half, but it wasn't enough to overcome their first half deficit.

Treylan Smith led the Bulldogs with 19 points, while Jayhlon Young paced the Bears with 13 points.

With the victory, Hinds improves to 3-2 on the season, while Baton Rouge falls to 0-6.

Bears Highlights:

Jayhlon Young led all Bears with 13 points

JaQualon Lovette added 12 points

Morantz James scored 11 points

Reginald Gause added 8 points

The Bears will return to action tomorrow November 16, for day two of the Southwest Mississippi Coca-Cola Classic. They will face the host school Southwest Mississippi at 7 pm.

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