Smith’s double-double powers Bulldogs to big W

PERKINSTON — Mississippi Gulf Coast played its best 20 minutes of the season, running away and hiding from Holmes at Dantzler Arena. The Bulldogs won their second straight MACCC men's basketball game 97-70.

"That was the best half we've played this year," Gulf Coast coach Owen Miller said. "The second half we didn't play as well, but that first half, we shot 54 percent from the field and 54 percent from 3."

Omarion Smith (So., Atlanta Ga./Douglas County) put his stamp on the game early, falling just a bucket and a rebound short of a first-half double-double. He finished with 19 points and 14 boards.

Smith helped put the clamps on Cameron Wallace, Holmes' leading scorer. He finished with 22, but it was on 7-of-19 shooting.

Gulf Coast (10-5, 2-1 MACCC) put pressure on Holmes (12-5, 1-1) from the start, generating turnovers and missed shots aplenty. The Bulldogs led 18-3 after eight minutes and were up 51-23 at the break.

They got big production off the bench, with John Davis (So., Pascagoula/Pascagoula) scoring 18 points and Larry Lee getting 10 points and eight rebounds.

Jabbari Barry (Fr., Lake Charles La./Barbe) made 4 of 5 from behind the arc and finished with 16. Gulf Coast made 11 of 22 of its 3-pointers. For the game, the Bulldogs shot 55.9 percent from the field and 90.9 from the free-throw line.

Holmes made a run early in the second half with a 9-0 to get the deficit down to 17, but Davis made two free throws and Duran Parish (Fr., Biloxi/Biloxi) had a right-wing 3-pointer and two free throws to extinguish the threat.

Parish finished with 17.

Gulf Coast will look to avenge a non-conference loss to Jones on Monday. The Bulldogs tip off at Ellisville at 7:30 p.m. The Bobcats are unbeaten in MACCC play.

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