The Southwest Mississippi Bears, the No. 2 seed in the Region 23 playoffs, defeated the Northeast Tigers 81-74 on Saturday to advance to the semifinals. The game was played at Southwest Mississippi Community College in Summit, Mississippi.
The Bears led by as many as 12 points in the second half and held off a late rally by the Tigers. Southwest built an early lead with a balanced offensive effort, highlighted by a no-look pass from Courterius Scott to Chidi Nwosu for a three-pointer and a steal and score by Scott. Leano Rolle also contributed with a slam dunk and a three-pointer to give the Bears a halftime lead of 37-32.
Southwest continued to control the game in the second half, with Scott scoring to extend the lead to 15 points at 50-35 with 15 minutes remaining. However, Northeast fought back, narrowing the gap to three points with 3:23 left. Andre Ngomabie scored four straight points, capitalizing on a Chidi Nwosu block, to bring the Tigers within striking distance.
With only 40 seconds remaining, the Bears led 74-70 but secured the win with clutch free throws from Scott and Rolle. Nwosu added two final free throws to seal the victory. Five Bears players scored in double digits, led by Scott’s 20 points. Nwosu posted a double-double with 18 points and 12 rebounds. Rolle finished with 15 points, while Ngomabie and Cy Merrett added 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Head coach Corey Schmidt emphasized the importance of confidence and urgency. “You have to have extreme confidence and understand you can get the job done,” he said. “But you also have to have extreme urgency. Our players did a good job balancing those elements.”
The Bears will face Jones College in the semifinals Tuesday at 4 p.m. in Fulton, Mississippi.
