PERKINSTON — Mississippi Gulf Coast's streak of hot starts continued Thursday night, and the Bulldogs kept the pedal to the metal, beating East Central 86-61 at the Weathers/Wentzell Center.
"We just came out early, and it really started on the defensive end," sophomore forward Qua'Darius Green said. "We came out, got a few steals and got running. We made a few shots."
Green (So, McComb/McComb) tied for high-scoring honors with Dedoch Chan (Fr, Rochester, Minn./John Marshall). They finished with 22, and Chan extended his streak of 20-point games to five.
Keevon Oney (Fr, Gulfport/Gulfport) was the third Bulldog to reach the 20-point mark, and he did it exactly. LaRaymond Spivery (Fr, Lucedale/George County) had 11 points.
Gulf Coast improved to 13-6 overall, 6-4 in the MACJC South. The Bulldogs are tied for third in the ultra-competitive division, only one game behind Copiah-Lincoln and Pearl River, which both lost Thursday night.
The Bulldogs have a pair of road games at Meridian and at Jones County next week. They entertain Pearl River on Feb. 19 on Sophomore Night.
Green's shot in the lane 5:48 into the game gave Gulf Coast a 17-2 lead. The Bulldogs eventually stretched it to a 24-point bulge.
"We were pretty good on offense most of the time tonight," Gulf Coast coach Wendell Weathers said. "We had a stretch there to close out the first half where we didn't execute quite as well. We made a few turnovers and took a few bad shots."
East Central (9-10, 3-7) cut the deficit to 40-27 at half but would get no closer. The Bulldogs opened the second half on an 18-4 run, including 14 straight, to give them their biggest margin of the night at 27.
"We came out the second half and were pretty dominant the whole second half," Weathers said. "I was really proud of them. Our defense was really solid, too."
Oney's length on the wing of Gulf Coast's 3-2 zone caused East Central problems, and his slashing play in transition wreaked havoc on the other end of the court.
"I felt good," he said. "We got the win and played good as a team. I try to stay in the passing lane and stop them from swinging the ball from wing to wing."
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