Gulf Coast rolls to 89-71 win over Meridian

PERKINSTON – For the past three weeks, Mississippi Gulf Coast coach Wendell Weathers has harped on his team's poor efforts on the defensive end.

Monday night, the Bulldogs turned that around, clamping down on Meridian in an 89-71 victory at the Weathers/Wentzell Center.

"I thought the first 20 minutes is about as good as we can play," Gulf Coast coach Wendell Weathers said. "I told the guys that at halftime. I said the only thing wrong is we've got another 20 minutes to play and it's been a long time since we won both halves."

Gulf Coast snapped a two-game losing streak by holding Meridian to 26 first-half points, opening up a 17-point lead. The Bulldogs would win both halves, too, even as the game got lopsided and unstructured down the stretch.

Anfernee Hampton had 23 points to lead the Bulldogs, who improved to 15-3 overall, 6-3 MACJC South. Gulf Coast is tied for second in the division, one game behind Jones.

Meridian falls to 5-13, 1-8.

Tedrian Brisco had 14 points and fueled one of the loudest outbursts of the night by the raucous Gulf Coast crowd. He saved an errant fast-break pass to Hampton for a dunk with seven minutes left in the first half, then stuffed a Meridian shot at the other end to preserve a 31-22 lead.

Maurice Stephens, who had 13 points, set off another celebration with six minutes left in the game with a sky-high alley-oop to Davion Cole-Johnson that gave Gulf Coast an 82-58 lead.

"This team has been unselfish," Weathers said. "It's been a part of our success all year long. I don't think they care who scores."

Cole-Johnson had 12 points and Deshawn Jones added 10.

"We rebounded hard tonight," Hampton said. "We had a two-game losing streak, so we needed to come out and make a statement."

Gulf Coast faces East Central in Perkinston on Thursday. The Warriors lost to Jones on Monday to fall into the tie with the Bulldogs for second in the division.

Tipoff is at 7:30 p.m.