Bears lose a heart breaker at the buzzer to end their season

Thursday April 1,2021

Booneville, MS: Men's Basketball 

With their upset victory over Co-Lin, in the first round of the region 23 tournament, the Bears earned themselves a match up with the second seeded Northeast Mississippi Tigers on Thursday in Booneville. The Bears had their chances late to pull off another upset but a last second shot by the Bears rimmed out and the Northeast Tigers escaped with a 69 to 68 victory over the short-handed Bears.

It was a back and forth first half between the Bears and the Tigers. The Bears took the early lead then the Tigers roared back to grab a 10-point lead midway through the first half. The Bears would scratch back and go up by one at the half 32 to 31. 

It was a similar game in the second half. The Tigers would retake the lead 33 to 32 with 19:16 to play. Northeast would grow their lead to six; 38-32 with 17:58 to play. Never team would score for the next two minutes.   The Bears would finally score their first bucket of the second half when Xavier Smith would hit a three pointer with 15 minutes. The Bears still trailed the Tigers 38 to 35. Over the next three minutes, the Tigers would outscore the Bears 4-0 to take a 42-35 lead with 12:46 to play. They would grow their lead to nine points; 62-53 with 4:32 to play.  The Bears would rally and go on a 10-3 run over the next three minutes to take a 66 to 65 lead with 1:14 left to play. Jayhlon Young would sink a three pointer to give the Bears the slim one-point lead.  The Tigers would tie the game at 66 and take the lead with two free throws by Jalien Rice with .55 second left in the game. Jordan Randall would sink two free throws to give the Bears a one-point lead with .28 seconds, 68-67. Northeast's  Jacob Tracey would be sent to the line with .12 second left to play and sink two free throws to take a 69 to 68 lead over the Bears. The Bears had multiple chances to win the ball game but came up short as the Northeast Tigers would escape with the 69 to 68 round two victory.

Northeast was led in scoring by Jacob Tracey with 16 points while freshman guard Jayhlon Young led the Bears with 26 points. 

The Bears connected on 15 three pointers in the game.

Bears Game Highlights: 

Jayhlon Young led all Bears with 25 points which included 6 3 pointers, with 3 rebounds, 2 steals and 1 block.

Dewey Shannon added 12 points with 2 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals.

Julius Ellerbe III scored 12 points with 10 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals.

Jordan Randall added 10 points with 2 rebounds, 4 assists and. 2 steals.

The Bears finished the 2020-2021 season with a 7-9 record and 4-6 in conference play.