Bulldogs let Tigers slide past

ELLISVILLE — Mississippi Gulf Coast let a 12-point lead slip away in the final five minutes and got bounced from the MACJC Tournament on Tuesday, losing to Northeast Mississippi 67-61.

The Bulldogs (19-5) will play in the NJCAA Region 23 Tournament on March 6 in Clinton. Gulf Coast will play the winner of Wednesday's Baton Rouge-Delgado game, which will decide the Louisiana representative.

Felix Hayes went nuts for the Tigers (19-5), making five 3-pointers in the final 4:14. He finished with 31 points on 9-of-14 shooting behind the arc.

"We didn't pick the kid up," Gulf Coast coach Wendell Weathers said. "One kid beat us in the last four minutes of the game. He had eight in the second half. We didn't have anybody close to him."

Hayes was the only player in double-digits for NEMCC, which shot better from behind the arc (44.4 percent) than from the field (38.6 percent).

Willie Logan (So., Brookhaven/Northwest Rankin) led the Bulldogs with 14 points, and he had five assists. Keevon Oney (So., Gulfport/Gulfport) had 13 points, six assists and four assists.

DaJuan Moorer (So., Pensacola, Fla./Pensacola Catholic) pulled down 10 rebounds and had four blocks.

Logan's layup with 5:02 left put the Bulldogs up 57-45, but they scored only four points the rest of the way.

"We had this game over and won," Weathers said. "Instead of trying to win the game, we tried not to lose it."

Northeast closed the game on a 22-4 run.

The Bulldogs will have some time to rest and prepare for next week's region tournament.

"Our sophomores will have to step up and get everybody ready," Weathers said. "We've got a pretty good shot to get to the championship game, if they'll get ready to play."

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