SUMMIT – Surprises highlighted Monday night’s South Divisionshowdown between Co-Lin and Southwest Mississippi CommunityCollege. Southwest upset the previously unbeaten andnationally-ranked Lady Wolves 68-64 as Nakeya Downing scored 19points for the Lady Bears in Holmes Gymnasium.

In the men’s game, Co-Lin rebounded from two straight losses andbeat Southwest 58-56, led by playmaker Bruce Smith’s 13 points.

Southwest resumes play Thursday at Jones County Junior Collegein Ellisville. Co-Lin takes the rest of the week off before hostingGulf Coast Monday night for a South Division twinbill.

The Lady Wolves (15-1, 5-1) missed several layups and tipins inthe final seconds and absorbed their first setback of the season.They were ranked No. 8 in the latest NJCAA poll.

Coach Gwyn Young’s team got as close as one point, 53-52, whenfreshman guard Tiania Burns hit a wide-open trey with 7:52 left toplay. Southwest responded with a 7-2 run and led 60-54 with 5:07left.

The Lady Bears (13-3. 5-1) got a solid performance as 4 playersscored in double figures. Collette White scored 13 points,including her last 2 free throws to secure the win.

Sophomore center Mindy Livaudais was the only other Co-Linplayer in double figures, netting 13 points.

The Wolves (6-9, 3-2) made Coach Dennis Sims a happy man lastnight. They snapped a 2-game losing streak and defeated Southwestwhere Sims coached for 12 years before moving to Co-Lin six yearsago.

“Tonight we made it happen in the last few minutes,” said Sims.”This was a big win for us after dropping two at home lastweek.

“We defended well and that helped us in the closingseconds.”

After Southwest’s Willie Depron hit a jumper to tie the score at45-45 with 8:03 left to play, Co-Lin answered with a 12-10 run topull out the victory.

Smith’s trey with 1:03 showing gave the Wolves a 57-55 advantageand the permanent lead. The Bears had a chance to win the game latebut Depron’s trey sailed long left and the Wolves erupted in ahappy celebration.

Smith, a sophomore from Brookhaven (West Lincoln) collected 6assists and 2 steals. Freshman guard Elliott Cowart, fromBrookhaven, scored 9 points, including 7 in the first 3 minutes ofthe game.

The Bears (13-3, 4-2), coached by Bill Wallace, tied Co-Lin at20-20 with 8:08 to go in the first half on a Brandon Griffin layup.Griffin, a 6-7 sophomore center, scored 10 of his game-high 14 inthe first half. He also had 11 rebounds and 2 blocked shots in theloss.