MGCCC celebrates high-flying Sophomore Night

PERKINSTON — Sophomore Night was everything Mississippi Gulf Coast could have wanted. The Bulldogs had a hot-shooting, high-flying, slam-dunking 101-91 win over Copiah-Lincoln to say a Perkinston regular-season farewell to nine sophomores.

Melvion Flanagan (So., Peabody/Alexandria, La.) was lights out behind the arc, and Dontavius Proby had a double-double.

Oh, and Gulf Coast clinched a spot in the eight-team MACCC Tournament field for the 22^nd time in the last 23 events.

"It was a good Sophomore Night," Gulf Coast coach Tim Ryan said. "The guys came out hard and were ready to go. We shot the ball really well tonight, and that's reflected by 101 points."

Gulf Coast improved to 16-6 overall, 8-5 in the MACCC. The Bulldogs moved up into a fifth-place tie with Northwest Mississippi. They hold the tiebreaker with the Rangers, and close out the regular-season Thursday with a shot to move into fourth. East Mississippi is a game ahead, and Gulf Coast heads to Scooba for a 6 p.m. game. 

Co-Lin falls to 6-15, 3-10.

The Bulldogs made 18-of-32 3-point attempts, better than a 56 percent clip. Flanagan was unconscious in the first half, making 7-of-9 attempts from beyond the arc.

Gulf Coast scored 21 of the first 26 points, but the Wolves battled back to make it 41-37 with 4:24 left in the half. Flanagan made three straight 3-pointers propelling the cushion back to 16 at the break. 

The Bulldogs would lead by as many as 23.

Flanagan finished with 23 points, and fellow sophomore Anthony Ratliff (So., Terry/Jackson) had 25 points and six rebounds.

"Champ plays hard every night," Ryan said. "He's been shooting the ball better these last couple of games. He was big tonight."

Ratliff made 3-of-5 3-pointer and 9-of-12 field goals. 

Proby had 12 points, 11 assists and six rebounds, and Calvin Johnson (So., Long Beach/Long Beach) and Lee Flenor (So., South Miami/Miami, Fla.) had 11 points each.

For more information on MGCCC's 10 intercollegiate athletic teams, follow @MGCCCBulldogs on Twitter and MGCCCBulldogs on Facebook, and go to mgcccbulldogs.com.