Bulldogs defense stymies Coahoma late

PERKINSTON — Mississippi Gulf Coast clamped down on Coahoma on Monday at Dantzler Arena, holding the Tigers scoreless for the last 3:20 to pull off an 80-75 comeback victory.

The Bulldogs reached the 20-win plateau for the first time in seven seasons by making critical stops to erase a seven-point deficit.

"That's when the game was decided," Gulf Coast coach Owen Miller said. "We trailed the whole game. We were down six at half, and we just hung on emotionally. I thought we were very mature. We didn't get caught up in playing from behind. Sometimes we've done that, but defensively, that last three and a half minutes, we were really good and were able to rebound the ball."

Duran Parish (So., Biloxi/Biloxi) took over down the stretch, leading the Bulldogs with 29. Maddox Noblitt (Fr., Ocean Springs/Ocean Springs) was the only other Gulf Coast player in double digits with 14.

Gulf Coast (20-5, 7-3 MACCC) remained in a third-place tie with Southwest Mississippi. Itawamba is 10-1 atop the conference, and Jones is a game back.

Coahoma is 15-6, 5-5.

Gulf Coast led briefly late in the first half but trailed 75-68 with 3:20 left after a Coahoma layup. Parish scored on a drive ahead of a missed one-and-one by Coahoma, then drove again with 2:35 to get the Bulldogs within three.

Matthew Hinton (So., Atlanta, Ga./Dutchtown) had a defensive stop and rebound on the next possession, and Parish scored two free throws at the other end. He picked a Tiger's pocket for a layup and a 76-75 lead with 100 seconds left.

Hinton rebounded a missed 3-pointer and got fouled, making one, before King George (Fr., Olive Branch/Olive Branch) forced a turnover with 39.3 seconds left. Parish's twisting drive with 31.9 seconds left put it away.

"He really got it at the rim," Miller said, "and he was 9 of 10 from the free-throw line."

Parish was 10-of-13 from the field, all 2-pointers, and had four assists.

Gulf Coast shot 61.7 percent from the field and made five more free throws than Coahoma attempted. 

The Bulldogs travel to Booneville on Thursday. Tipoff against Northeast Mississippi is set for 7:30 p.m., and the game will be streamed at https://nemcctv.com/blackchannel/.

For more information on MGCCC's 12 intercollegiate athletic teams, follow @MGCCCBulldogs on Twitter and MGCCCBulldogs on Facebook, and go to mgcccbulldogs.com.