The Jefferson Davis Community College Warhawk basketball team evened their overall record up at 12-12 and improved their conference record to 9-6 Thursday at Bishop State as they came home with a 56-53 win.
JDCC outscored Bishop 27-22 in the first half, but was outscored 31-29 in the second but hung on for the win by three points.
The win helped JDCC’s chances for a tournament bye in the first round, but did not solidify the bye just yet according to head coach Allen Gainer.
“The bye is not definite yet,” Gainer said. “It is looking like we may end up in a three way tie with LBW and CVCC, with two of us getting byes and the other hosting a play in. Lots of scenarios that can happen, but it basically boils down to a win Thursday and we have a bye no matter what, lose and it could go either way.”
The Warhawks got off to a slot start Thursday as they were down 21-10 with seven minutes to go in first half.
The Warhawks ended the half on a 17-1 run to take 27-22 halftime lead.
“We played well for most of the second half, getting up 51-38 with three minutes to go, only to see Bishop end the game on a 15-5 run,” Gainer said. “They cut our lead to two and had the ball with a minute to go but we forced a tough shot and Brandon Scott fought to get the defensive rebound. We finished things off making free throws down the stretch.”
Braylon Lazare led JDCC with 14 points, five steals, three blocks, and three offensive rebounds.
Daryl Duncan followed with 11 points and Larel Jackson had eight points and led with four assists.
Turmonte Ragland had six points and six defensive rebounds and Brandon Scott had five points and led with six defensive rebounds and eight total rebounds.
Sherman Presswood had four points along with Adam Stumpf and Travis Allen had three points.
Derrell Washington added one point in the win.