ELLISVILLE – Zae Blake made three free throws with no time left on the clock to lift Southwest to an 82-80 victory over No. 14 Jones College here Monday night at A.B Howard Gymnasium.
The Bobcats fall to 10-2 overall and 2-2 in the MACCC. Southwest is now 9-4, 2-2.
The Bobcats led 80-73 with 2:18 left after a made free throw by
Decorian Payton (Center Hill). But the Bears got a pair of free throws and a layup from Jamil Bowles to make it 80-77. Blake made two free throws with 34.7 seconds to cut the lead to 80-79.
Jones had ball possession, but had to shoot the ball before the shot clock expired.
Ashton Campbell's (Forrest County AHS) 3-pointer with less than 10 seconds left was no good. A scramble for the ball ensued and the ball was knocked out of bounds in front of Jones' bench with 0.8 seconds to play.
After a timeout, Southwest threw the ball down court where Blake caught it, dribbled once, spun and missed a 35-footer. But
Calvin Temple (Center Hill) was whistled for a foul, Blake was awarded three free throws and made them all.
Referees added 0.3 seconds to the clock. Jones tossed the ball inbounds, but Campbell's length of the court shot was no good and Southwest escaped with the victory.
The Bobcats led 41-39 at halftime, but Southwest came back to take a 55-49 lead early in the second half. Jones rallied and would eventually take its largest lead of the second half at the 2:18 mark.
Temple had 23 points to lead four Jones players in double figures.
Caleb McGill (Petal) added 17 and Campbell and Payton each had 13 points. Payton and
Jabari Bowman (Warren Central) each had seven rebounds and
Lovell Smith (Center Hill) had three assists. Campbell and
Cowandric Samuel (Jackson Callaway) each had four steals.
Edward Lacey topped Southwest with 17 points, Blake added 13 and Tim McElroy had 10. Bowles finished with 11 rebounds and Nate Hudson added eight.
Jones made 32-of-72 shots from the field for 44 percent. The Bobcats were only 1-of-14 from 3-point range for seven percent. Jones hit 15-of-25 free throws for 60 percent.