Bulldogs season ends in OT

PERKINSTON — Mississippi Gulf Coast saw its men's basketball season end in heartbreaking fashion Saturday at Dantzler Arena, losing a double-digit lead late in regulation before falling in overtime 104-101 to Hinds.

"It happened fast," Bulldogs coach Owen Miller said. "With about two minutes left, we were up 11. We were playing really good basketball, and then we just had an array of turnovers, fouled two 3-point shooters. It's an eight-point burst in two possessions. It's like we did everything we could to lose the game, and we end up losing, but credit Hinds. They hung tough and kept playing."

Gulf Coast finished the year 23-7, losing the season series to Hinds 2-1. Hinds (18-14), the 12^th seed in the NJCAA Region 23 Tournament, continues a Cinderella run to advance to the semifinals.

Duran Parish (So., Biloxi/Biloxi) led Gulf Coast with 28 points, and King George (Fr., Olive Branch/Olive Branch) had 22. Maddox Noblitt (Fr., Ocean Springs/Ocean Springs) scored 19 off the bench, and Matthew Hinton (So., Atlanta, Ga./Dutchtown) added 12.

The Bulldogs led 88-77 after a Maddox 3-pointer with 2:08 left, but the lead dwindled until a Hinds 3 with 47 seconds left tied it at 90. Gulf Coast got a stop late to force the extra period.

Gulf Coast was up 99-97 with 68 seconds left in overtime, and had the ball after missing their second free throw. They wound up missing two more free throws, and Hinds took the lead with a three-point play with 24.2 seconds left.

The Bulldogs shot 65 percent from the free-throw line, missing 14 free throws.

Gulf Coast finished in a second-place tie in the MACCC, and the last time the program won 23 games was the 2011-12 season.

"We had a good year," Miller said. "Your goal going into the season is to get this game, get a bye, and get to play at home prior to going to the final four. We did that. I'm proud. I thought we did a lot of good things. We won some games, but boy, I tell you, just the way this one ended is going to be hard to get over."

NJCAA Region 23 Men's Basketball Tournament

March 5-13

First Round

Thursday, March 5

No. 9 Southern-Shreveport 109, No. 8 Northwest Mississippi 104

No. 12 Hinds 67, No. 5 Holmes 58

No. 10 Northeast Mississippi 61, No. 7 Coahoma 53

No. 6 Pearl River 80, No. 11 Copiah-Lincoln 56

Quarterfinals

Saturday, March 7

Southern-Shreveport at No. 1 Itawamba, 4 p.m.

Hinds 104, No. 4 Gulf Coast 101 (OT)

No. 2 Southwest Mississippi 81, Northeast 74

No. 3 Jones 89, Pearl River 74

Semifinals

Tuesday, March 10

At Fulton

Hinds vs. Itawamba, TBD

Jones vs. Southwest, TBD

Finals

Thursday, March 12

At Fulton

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