Gulf Coast brings tough D to playoffs

PERKINSTON — Mississippi Gulf Coast is a familiar participant in the MACJC Men's Basketball Tournament, and if the Bulldogs are to make a run in this one, it'll be following a familiar recipe.

Gulf Coast (19-4, 11-3 South) is making its 21st straight trip to the postseason starting Tuesday in Ellisville, where its first-round opponent will be Northeast (18-4, 8-4 North). Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. The game will be streamed at https://www.nemcctv.com/black-channel.

Gulf Coast won't be making any changes to their approach. The Bulldogs give up only 64.1 points per game, third-best in NJCAA Division I. They allow opponents to shoot just 39.8 percent from the floor, among the top 20 in the country.

"It's too late in the year to try to change anything, and we're 19-4 so the things we've been doing have been working pretty well for the most part," Gulf Coast coach Wendell Weathers said. "We're not going to change anything we're doing. We just have to do what we do for 40 minutes the best we can do. 

"Where we get in trouble is when we let up or don't play as hard as we need to. It's going to come down to who's ready to play and who wants it more."

The Tigers, coached by Cord Wright, average 85.0 points per game, led by Denzel McDuffey at a 14.4 point average. DeAnthony Tipler (14.0) and Felix Hayes (10.9) are the only other double-digit scorers, but Northeast has seven players averaging at least seven per game.

Northeast finished second in the North but lost its last two regular-season games to Mississippi Delta and East Mississippi.

"I've watched two films on them," Weathers said. "They play really hard. They're capable of scoring. They play hard, they play physical, and they're well-coached."

2019 MACJC Tournament Schedule

Ellisville

Tuesday

Game 1: S2. Pearl River (21-2, 12-2) vs. N3. Holmes (15-9, 7-5), 1 p.m.

Game 2: N1. East Mississippi (16-7, 10-2) vs. S4. East Central (13-10, 6-8), 3 p.m.

Game 3: S1. Jones (18-5, 12-2) vs. N4. Mississippi Delta (10-13, 5-7), 5:30 p.m.

Game 4: N2. Northeast (18-4, 8-4) vs. S3. Gulf Coast (19-4, 11-3), 7:30 p.m.

Wednesday

Game 5: Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, 3 p.m.

Game 6: Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner, 7:30 p.m.

Thursday

Championship: Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner, 7:30 p.m.

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