Spivery, Dial power Bulldogs past ECCC

Mississippi Gulf Coast erased a big first-half deficit and broke its three-game losing streak, racing past East Central 90-85 in Decatur on Saturday.

LaRaymond Spivery (Fr, Lucedale/George County) had 25 points and Abdul Dial (So, West Palm Beach, Fla./Cardinal Newman) had 23 to lead the Bulldogs

"We had a little heart-to-heart with them in the office two days ago," Gulf Coast coach Wendell Weathers said. "I don't know if that had anything to do with it, but they were both really good tonight."

Spivery and Dial each had season highs. Spivery did it coming off the bench for the first time, and Dial did it starting for just the second time.

Keevon Oney (Fr, Gulfport/Gulfport) and Qua'darius Green (So, McComb/McComb) added 10 each for the Bulldogs, who improved to 9-4 overall and 2-2 in the MACJC South.

East Central is 8-5, 2-2.

Gulf Coast trailed by as many as 14 in the early going but took a brief lead before halftime. The Bulldogs trailed 45-44 at the break.

"We changed our defenses," Weathers said. "We went to two different zones. I don't know that our man-to-man was that bad. We just didn't shoot the ball well early. It was pretty evident to me that when we went to zone, that changed the tempo."

Gulf Coast surged coming out of the locker room and opened a lead which the Warriors were never able to surmount.

"The whole bunch was better," Weathers said. "Offense, defense, rebounding. The whole bunch was better. Maybe we're going to refocus and get back to where we were before Christmas."

That was the middle game in a stretch of three games in five days. The trip to Decatur was pushed back from Monday when winter weather postponed the entire MACJC slate.

The Bulldogs return to Perkinston on Monday when Jones County visits. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.

For more information on MGCCC's 10 intercollegiate athletic teams, follow @MGCCCAthletics on Twitter and BulldogLIVE on Facebook, and go to mgcccbulldogs.com.