Defense, 2 double-doubles stifle Hinds

PERKINSTON — A much-improved defensive effort plus the double-double duo of Darius Dawson and Idell Walton lifted Mississippi Gulf Coast to a 90-67 win Monday over Hinds at Dantzler Arena.

Dawson had 21 points and 11 rebounds, while Walton matched him on the boards and had 14 points. They combined to shoot 14-of-23 from the field and made 6-of-7 free throws.

"I thought defensively in that first half, we really shut them down," Gulf Coast coach Tim Ryan said. "They shoot 48 percent from the field. If they're not tops in the conference, they're right there, and we held them to 34 percent in the first half. That's the direction we have to go."

Gulf Coast (9-11, 3-5 MACCC) improved to 9-3 at Perk this season. Hinds falls to 7-11, 0-7.

The Bulldogs' gameplan was to take the ball to the hole against a leaky Hinds defense.

"I don't think we started that way," Ryan said. "We came out taking 3's, and then we called time out and lit into a little bit about the game plan and getting to the hole. Then I thought they did a good job with it." 

A 15-0 run late in the first half helped blow the game open, all by three of those points in the lane or at the free-throw line. Dawson started it with two free throws, had a dunk in the middle and punctuated it with another dunk to make it 36-23 with 2:08 in the half.

Gulf Coast shot even better in the second half, nearly 60 percent from the field. Walton made four of his five shots in the second half, and Hinds never got closer than nine down the stretch.

It was Walton's first career double-double, and Dawson picked up his fourth of the season.

JaVon Anderson (So., Columbia S.C./Ridge View) had 19 points, and Donovan Sanders (So., Walls/Lake Cormorant) had 15 points, six assists and five steals.

"Donovan played a heck of a game," Ryan said. "The statistics may not show it, but he was just a warrior out there."

Gulf Coast travels to Fulton on Thursday to play Itawamba, which suffered its first defeat of the season Monday. The Indians lost in overtime to Meridian. Tipoff at ICC will be at 5:30 p.m.

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