Men's Basketball 2/23/2021 3:50:00 PM Michael D. Gunnell, Southwest Sports Information

Bender named HoopDirt.com Juco Co-Coach of the Week

The Bears men's basketball team gained national attention on February 20^th when Tada Stricklen's three pointer at the buzzer ( https://twitter.com/BryanBender/status/1363281278917877769?s=20) gave them a 70-69 upset of 2^nd-ranked Pearl River and ended the Wildcats' 33-game winning streak.

As a result of the win, the Bears program garnered further national attention Monday when head coach Bryan Bender was named JUCO Co-Coach of the Week by HoopDirt.com (https://hoopdirt.com/week-13-hoopdirt-com-coach-of-the-week-presented-by-just-play-solutions-3/) and the team received votes in the latest NJCAA poll (https://www.njcaa.org/sports/mbkb/rankings/DI/index).

"I am very fortunate to be named this week's national coach honors after a record breaking performance by our team," said Bender. "This was the first time in our program's history to beat a top-ranked team and the victory shows the perseverance of our group."

"Our staff, team and program as a whole has gone through a lot this season already," Bender continued, "between injuries, the pandemic, and most recently the weather. Discipline is one's ability to the same thing over and over again with no regard for your circumstance or environment and we have embraced it, attacked it and have continued to persevere and get better every day regardless of the circumstance."

In concluding his comments, Bender said that "We are very grateful to be able to represent Southwest Mississippi Community College. It has great leadership and it is a privilege. This is a special team and we are going to continue to stay hungry and humble as we continue to get better, embrace our core values of Passion, Humility and Discipline and control what we can control. I am proud of our team and staff and excited to carry this momentum throughout the remainder of the season."

Following the win over Pearl River, the Bears picked up a 73-69 win over Co-Lin Monday night to sweep the season series for the first time since 2013 and move their record to 7-2.

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