O makes crowd go Oh

PERKINSTON — Dantzler Arena is less than two basketball seasons old, but it may take a lot longer than that before it gets as loud as it did Monday when Omarion Smith officially put his stamp on the game.

His thunderous put-back dunk and blocked shot started a comeback that saw third-seed Mississippi Gulf Coast advance to the NJCAA Region 23 semifinals with an 88-82 win over 11^th-seed Meridian on Monday night.

He screamed at the hometown crowd after the defensive gem, unable to be heard over the deafening roar.

"I said this is our house," Smith said. "We weren't going to let anybody come in here and take over. They went on a run, and we were facing some adversity, but we responded."

The Bulldogs (18-9) will play second-seeded Northeast Mississippi in Clinton on Thursday. Tipoff will be at 7 p.m. Northeast bounced Pearl River 71-55 on Monday.

Meridian (16-3) had put together a 15-2 run to run out to a 61-55 lead with 12:55 to play. Smith followed a missed layup with a soaring two-handed jam that nearly lifted the roof off the new arena. About 15 seconds later, he snuffed an Eagles shot.

"The dunk really changed the momentum," Gulf Coast coach Owen Miller said. "They had us on the ropes a little bit. They got up six, but the crowd really got back in it with the tip dunk. It really got us going."

Smith led all scorers with 27 points and added 13 rebounds for a double-double.

Gulf Coast would retake the lead on a Duran Parish (Fr., Biloxi/Biloxi) drive with 7:30 to play, putting the Bulldogs up 70-68. Parish scored eight of his 21 points from that point on. He also had eight rebounds and six assists.

"He's a closer," Miller said. "Late in games, he's hard to deal with. He really got O some easy ones there in our screen-and-roll action, got him some bunnies there at the rim. He made some free throws down the stretch to seal it."

John Davis (So., Pascagoula/Pascagoula) had 13 points, and Jabbari Barry (Fr., Lake Charles La./Barbe) had 10 points.

Gulf Coast shot nearly 52 percent from the floor in the second half, more than 16 points better than Meridian.

"I thought they got more open shots in the first half," Miller said. "We switched out on some pin-downs we weren't supposed to, and I thought we were there on the catch better in the second half. They had some guys who jumped up and made some shots."

The Bulldogs, who missed the playoffs last year, are among the final four Region 23 teams still playing.

"It means a lot for this program, for the coaching staff, my teammates," Smith said. "We really prepared ourselves for this one, and we deserved it."

NJCAA Region 23 Men's Basketball Tournament

First Round

Saturday, March 9

Higher seed hosts

No. 9 Baton Rouge 70, No. 8 Copiah-Lincoln 65

No. 5 Holmes 81, No. 12 East Central 69

No. 10 Pearl River 74, No. 7 Itawamba 64

No. 11 Meridian 100, No. 6 Southwest Mississippi 96

Quarterfinals

Monday, March 11

Higher seed hosts

No. 1 Jones 80, No. 9 Baton Rouge 75

No. 5 Holmes 81, No. 4 East Mississippi 68

No. 2 Northeast Mississippi 71, No. 10 Pearl River 55

Meridian at No. 3 Gulf Coast 88, No. 11 Meridian 82

Semifinals

Thursday, March 14

Clinton, Miss.

Jones vs. Holmes, 3 pm

Northeast Mississippi vs. Gulf Coast, 7 pm

Finals

Friday, March 15

Clinton, Miss.

Championship, 7 pm

For more information on MGCCC's 11 intercollegiate athletic teams, follow @MGCCCBulldogs on Twitter and MGCCCBulldogs on Facebook, and go to mgcccbulldogs.com.