PERKINSTON — Mississippi Gulf Coast faced the team that knocked it out of the Region 23 Men’s Basketball Tournament in the spring and got some revenge Thursday night.

 

The Bulldogs beat Holmes 75-62 at the Weathers-Wentzell Center with a second-half surge in the MACCC opener for both teams.

 

“Conference is always tough,” Gulf Coast coach Tim Ryan said. “These guys came to play and they’re a tough team. Every game is going to be like that whether it’s a 15-seed versus a 1-seed.”

 

The Bulldogs made 6-of-13 from the 3-point arc in the second half, including 3-of-4 by Calvin Johnson (So., Long Beach/Long Beach). He finished with 12 points, all off 3’s. Carr Thiam (So., Wharton/Tampa, Fla.) made 2-of-5 from the arc in the second half and finished with 16 points.

 

“We weren’t hitting our shots in the first half,” Ryan said. “The second half we made some shots that we normally make. We were really struggling in the first half. Carr was struggling but C.J. and Carr caught fire in the second.”

 

Holmes (2-4) missed all eight 3-pointers in the second half and shot 14.3 percent for the game. Gulf Coast lost 96-89 to the other Bulldogs in the second round of the Region 23 Tournament in April.

 

Melvion Flanagan (So., Peabody/Alexandria, La.) had 13 points, seven rebounds and three assists. Anthony Ratliff (So., Terry/Jackson) had a double-double with 11 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.

 

Gulf Coast turned the ball over just 12 times.

 

“That’s what we have to improve on if we want to make a run here,” Ryan said. “If we can’t take care of the ball, it’s going to be hard to make a run.”

 

Gulf Coast hits the road Monday for a rematch against Jones. The Bobcats handed the Bulldogs their only loss of the season. Tipoff at Ellisville is set for 6 p.m.

 

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