Lee gets game-winner in 54-53 victory

PERKINSTON — Mississippi Gulf Coast will call Monday night the Larry Lee game. The sophomore center scored 10 of the Bulldogs' final 15 points, including the game-winner, in a 54-53 win over Meridian at Dantzler Arena.

"He played really well," Gulf Coast coach Owen Miller said. "He had some timely baskets there. We finally took advantage of how they were defending the pick-and-roll game, and we got it down there to him. He was able to make some plays, and he got some hard rebounds, too."

The Bulldogs (15-10, 5-6 MACCC) moved into ninth place in the conference by themselves. They'll play two of the bottom three teams in the league in the final three games, needing to solidify their playoff spot.

Gulf Coast was clinging to a 39-38 lead when Lee's run started. He got a breakaway dunk with 9:13 left, and then posterized an Eagles player less than a minute later. A Lee shot in the lane with 6:38 to go broke a 43-all tie.

Jabbari Barry (So., Lake Charles, La./Barbe) made a 3-pointer a minute later for a five-point bulge, and Lee tacked on another shot in the paint for the biggest lead of the night for either team.

Barry finished with 13 points, and Thomas Tangle (So., Standing Pine/Choctaw Central) had a free-throw line jumper with 2:21 to make it 52-48. Tangle had 10.

Meridian surged into the lead with a three-point play followed by a putback with 1:00 left.

Lee's last basket came off an inbound play with 44.1 seconds left. He fumbled the pass initially but went up strong for a 54-53 points lead.

Meridian came up empty the rest of the way, even as Gulf Coast missed two front ends of one-and-ones.

"We spent some time over the weekend trying to shore our defense up," Miller said. "It was much better tonight. We forced 20 turnovers and got some points off those, which was big."

Meridian is 8-17, 1-9.

Gulf Coast has its MACCC open date Thursday. The Bulldogs travel to Senatobia next Monday for a game against Northwest Mississippi. Tipoff is at 7:30 p.m.

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