Bulldogs grab important 1st road win with ease

Mississippi Gulf Coast hadn't been able to score a single road victory before Monday night, but the Bulldogs executed in Senatobia to cruise past Northwest Mississippi 84-65.

"We definitely had lost the directions, but we found them tonight," Gulf Coast coach Tim Ryan said. "We got that monkey off our backs. Guys are happier. They're excited, and the trip home is a lot better than it has been in the past. Especially facing this long ride."

Stout defense, strong rebounding and the return of Jabarie Robinson were just what the doctor ordered. The freshman guard from Raymond scored 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting, adding four rebounds, three assists and one steal.

Gulf Coast (11-12, 5-6 MACCC) held the Rangers (5-15, 3-8) to 10-of-31 shooting in the first half to lead 43-31.

"We held the other team to 37 percent on the night, and 32 percent in the first half," Ryan said. "If you hold a team to 37 percent, it's going to translate to wins. We did that well."

Gulf Coast shot 41.7 percent from behind the arc in the first half to help build that lead, and the Bulldogs finished at 47.8 percent from the field.

The rebounding battle also went their way. They were plus-17 on the boards, and held the Rangers to just eight offensive rebounds. Northwest is third in the league in that department.

"That's huge for us," Ryan said. "We're not a great rebounding team, and they're a great offensive rebounding team. They're in the top-20 in the country in offensive rebounds. For us to hold them to eight was really good."

Donovan Sanders (So., Walls/Lake Cormorant) led the Bulldogs with 20 points and had three steals. Anthony Robinson (Fr., Long Beach/Long Beach) scored 10, and Idell Walton (Fr., Tampa Fla./SLAM Tampa) was just short of a double-double with nine points and a game-high 11 rebounds.

Gulf Coast remains in a tie with Holmes for ninth place in the conference. The top eight are guaranteed a spot in the NJCAA Region 23 Tournament, but the MACCC is likely to get all three of the final 12 spots based on Massey Rating.

The Bulldogs, winners of three of their last four, will be back at Perk on Thursday two games back of Southwest Mississippi. They're a game behind Jones and Northeast Mississippi. Tipoff at Dantzler Arena will be at 6 p.m.

"We feel like we're getting better as a team.," Ryan said. "This is keeping us in the right direction. We want to play our best basketball at the end, and I think right now we are. We're not finished yet, but we're playing better now than a month ago."

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