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Men’s Basketball start with a W
Mississippi Gulf Coast tipped of its men's basketball season successfully Friday in Pensacola, Fla., beating Coastal Alabama-South 91-76.
It wasn't a perfect outing for the Bulldogs, but there were lot of encouraging things for the first time out.
"We did some good things, but did a lot of things that typically happen in first games," second-year coach Owen Miller said. "We played three or four minutes well, and then we played three or four minutes not very good. We've got to clean that up a little bit, but overall we did some good stuff."
Jabbari Barry (So., Lake Charles La./Barbe) led Gulf Coast with 22 points, including 4-of-8 from the 3-point line. Running mate Kaue Kalinowski (So., Brazil Curitiba/Divine Savior) shot 8-of-10 from the field for 20 points despite playing just 15 minutes because of foul trouble
They were the only two Bulldogs in double-digits, but seven had five or more points.
Emerson Jones (Fr., Fairfield Calif./Salesian College Prep) had eight points and seven rebounds. Za'Kariyea Hamilton (Fr., Jackson/Clinton), Thomas Tangle (So., Standing Pine/Choctaw Central) and Aujaylen Barron (Fr., Gulfport/Harrison Central) also had seven rebounds.
The Bulldogs outrebounded the Coyotes 50-37.
"We've some perimeter guys who can rebound," Miller said. "We rebounded the ball throughout all our positions, which was encouraging."
Gulf Coast will have a quick turnaround in the second day of the Pensacola State Classic. The Bulldogs play Santa Fe, from Gainesville, Fla., at noon Saturday. PSC is streaming the game at https://piratenetwork.live/watch-live/.
"We've got to get better at half-court defense," Miller said. "We need to shore that up because we had a lot of breakdowns."
For more information on MGCCC's 12 intercollegiate athletic teams, follow @MGCCCBulldogs on Twitter and MGCCCBulldogs on Facebook, and go to mgcccbulldogs.com.