PERKINSTON – A buzzer-beating rebound and jumper at the end of regulation by Xavion Dillon and free throws in overtime by Jaylen Moore helped the Southwest Bears overcome a 16-point, second-half deficit Monday night and pick up an 88-87 win on the road at Mississippi Gulf Coast.

The win avenged an earlier home-loss to Gulf Coast and gave the Bears a record of 11-7 on the season and, at 5-4, moved them into a tie with Pearl River for third place in the MACJC South Division. Gulf Coast dropped to 14-4 and into second place in the South with a 7-2 mark.

In women’s action, The Southwest Lady Bears fell just short in attempting to overcome a 16-point, second-half rally in Perkinston Monday night as they dropped a 62-59 decision to host Mississippi Gulf Coast.

The loss, only their third of the season, dropped the Lady Bears to 15-3 overall and into a three-way tie for first place, with Meridian and Pearl River, in the MACJC South with a mark of 7-2. Gulf Coast moved to 7-10 and 3-6.

Southwest is back at home Thursday night as they prepare to take on their arch-rival Co-Lin. Game time is set for 5:30, followed by the men’s game at 7:30 p.m.

Gulf Coast 62, Southwest 59 

All seemed lost for Southwest early in the second half as a Salinda Brown jumper with 18:56 to play put Gulf Coast up 41-25. The Lady Bears cut into the lead, narrowing it down to 46-38 on a Talisa Sherman layup with 13:00 on the clock. But, the Lady Bulldogs quickly pushed their lead back to 14 points, 52-38, with 11:01 to go.

Then, with a pair of Wilson free throws and a Littlepage layup providing the bookends, the Lady Bears went on an 18-5 scoring streak to pull back to within one point, 57-56, with 2:16 left in the game. Unfortunately, for the Lady Bears, Gulf Coast recovered to score five of the game’s final eight points to escape with the narrow victory.

Littlepage topped the Southwest offense with 21 points on 7-10 shooting from the field and 7-10 shooting from the free throw line. Wilson added nine points in the game while April Levy had eight and Talisa Sherman scored seven.

Madison Mault netted six points for Southwest with Tee Myers recording four. Courtney Epting and Elayne Robinson both picked up two. The Lady Bears made 11 of 18 free throws.

Christa Owen scored 21 to lead the Gulf Coast offense. The Lady Bulldogs hit 17 of 27 free throws.

Southwest 88, Gulf Coast 87 

Things looked bleak for Southwest most of the night. Falling behind by 10 points, 20-10, with 10:33 to play in the first half, the Bears cut the lead to six points on three occasions, but the Bulldogs found an answer each time. They then took an 11-point, 39-28 lead into intermission.

Finding themselves down by 10 points again, 64-54 with 10:31 left in the game, the Bears slowly but surely began their comeback. Outscoring Gulf Coast 23-15 over the next 10:27, the Bears then found themselves down by only three points, 79-76, with 0:04 on the clock and Jaylen Moore at the free throw line.

The Bears took their first lead of the night, 81-79, on Dillon’s layup with 4:29 showing. Gulf Coast then scored seven of the next eight points to go up by four, 84-82, with 0:55 to play.

Guards Moore and Chris Jones nailed 26 and 25 points, respectively, to lead the Bears’ attack. Corey Williams was also in double figures with 12 points.

Twymond Howard had nine points in the game, along with 10 rebounds, while Deione Weeks scored eight. Dillon recorded six points and Jamal Hester netted two. Southwest hit 26 of 35 free throws.

Tony Bridges and Rogers Woods both scored 26 points to lead Gulf Coast. The Bulldogs struggled at the free throw line, hitting 25 of 42.