PERKINSTON, Ms. – LSU Eunice Men’s Basketball secured the season sweep of Mississippi Gulf Coast as the Bengals took a 71-67 victory over the Bulldogs on Thursday at Wentzell Arena. LSUE (9-2) virtually went wire-to-wire in the final regular season game of the 2022 calendar year.
The Bengals would use three-point shooting and a full court press to open up a double-digit point advantage midway through the first half. Christian Landry and Corey Pope connected on back-to-back trifectas to help LSUE push its lead to 25-12 with 10:35 before intermission.
The Bengals force 17 turnovers on the night, turning them into 17 points.
After taking a 40-33 halftime lead, LSUE would keep Mississippi Gulf Coast at arm’s length for most of the game. The Bengals would use a Nasir DeGruy three-pointer with five minutes left to build their largest lead of the game, 16 points, 65-49.
The Bulldogs would not go down easily, trimming their deficit to two points with a minute left in regulation. Leland Smith would sink a pair of free throws to help push LSUE ahead by two possessions with 5.5 seconds remaining.
Smith was joined by a solid effort off the bench as the LSUE reserves outscored the MGCCC bench 27-10.
Bryce Roberts would fill the stat sheet with a team-high 12 points, five steals, four assists and a pair of rebounds. Kaden Pierre also added a dozen points to go with six rebounds.
Seviuhn Turner was the other Bengal to score double digit points, going for 10 points and a team-high seven rebounds.
MGCCC’s Donovan Sanders led all scorers with 20 points on the night.
LSU Eunice returns to the court on January 4 with a home date against McLennan Community College.
