Wildcats Dominate 2nd Annual Battle of Mardi Gras

The Battle of Mardi Gras kicked off for the second straight year at Bishop State. Four teams, Bishop State, Coastal Alabama-South, Delgado (LA) and Southern Shreveport (LA) took the court on December 18-19 at the Fredericka G. Evans Cultural Centre.

For the second straight year, the Wildcats have taken care of business against the Louisiana programs. The Wildcats need a win badly after losing four straight nail biters to start the month of December. One of the toughest losses was at Delgado (LA) who made a 75-foot heave to send the game to overtime and carried that momentum to a victory.

On day one, the Wildcats took care of business early against Southern Shreveport who is coached by former Bishop State Wildcat, Rodney Broughton. Jeremiah Sem started the game with an electrifying dunk on a back door play from Jacob Feagin. For the first ten minutes of the game, both teams filled each other out as there were 5 lead changes and a tie. Patrick Olajuwon got an offensive rebound for a bucket pushing the lead 4, 18-14, and the Wildcats never looked back. Jeremiah Sem led the way as the only double figure scorer with 26 points to a 71-53 victory. The Wildcats dominated the paint with 48 points compared to 18 points from Southern Shreveport. Patrick Olajuwon and Maylon Martes both flirted double-doubles; Olajuwon with 8 points and 10 rebounds while Martes finished with 7 points and 12 rebounds.

With a victory under their belt, the Wildcats gained some confidence going into their rematch versus Delgado and it was a one-way street from start to finish. Jeremiah Sem did it again but this time it was a one-handed alley-oop from Tahsheim Gary. Bishop State went up by as many as 14 in the first half before only taking a 7-point lead into the half. Remembering they had a double figure lead at Delgado before letting it slip away, the Wildcats made sure they handled business in the second half as they dominated the paint points once again, 42-26. Bishop State went on to be victorious 76-57 led by Tahsheim Gary with 21 points and 6 rebounds. Patrick Olajuwon recorded his first career double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds while Vophcy Prophete finished with 10 points.

The Wildcats finish the first semester with a 6-8 record and will return to play January 5^th at home against #7 Chipola and #6 Gulf Coast on January 9^th before conference play begins.