Gulf Coast holds on at LSU Eunice

Mississippi Gulf Coast built a big halftime lead and gave up all of it in the second half but wound up beating a tough LSU Eunice team on its own court 93-90.

"We played a really bad second half defensively," Gulf Coast coach Tim Ryan said. "The first half, we gave up 39 percent shooting from the field; in the second half, we gave up 52. That hurt us."

Melvion Flanagan (So., Peabody/Alexandria, La.) led Gulf Coast with 25 points. Dontavius Proby (So., Biloxi/Biloxi) came off the bench to add 17 points and five assists. The Bulldogs bench outscored the Bengals bench by 18 points.

Gulf Coast (3-0) led by as many as 20 late in the first half and went to the locker room with a 57-39 lead.

The Bengals (2-2) were only plus-four in total rebounds but hurt the Bulldogs on the offensive glass. 

"You give up 23 offensive rebounds, it's amazing we won the game," Ryan said. "You don't win a lot of games giving up more than 20 offensive rebounds."

Lee Flenor (So., South Miami/Miami, Fla.) scored 16 points and tied Calvin Johnson (So., Long Beach/Long Beach) and Anthony Ratliff (So., Terry/Jackson) with a team-high seven rebounds.

Gulf Coast only turned the ball over nine times.

"That's a positive," Ryan said. "They pressured us. They didn't press, but they picked up man-to-man full court."

Gulf Coast hits the road again Thursday when it travels to play East Central. Tipoff in Decatur is set for 6 p.m. The game will be streamed at https://www.eccclive.com/gold-channel/.

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