• By CHRIS CHAPPLE
• Special to The Advocate
• Published: Nov 6, 2009 - Page: 1C

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Dressed in home white jerseys for the first time, Baton Rouge Community College swept men’s and women’s basketball games Thursday at the Bonne Santé Wellness Center.

Both team posted season-high scoring totals and wore the distinctive white jerseys with Baton Rouge on the front in red with red numbers and black trim.

The BRCC women defeated Pearl River, Miss., 70-60 and the BRCC men made the plays down the stretch of a 77-72 victory over Pearl River before about 2,500 fans.

Among that group were LSU coaches Trent Johnson and Van Chancellor, several LSU men’s players, numerous state college and high school coaches and former Southern University coach Tommy Green.

“It was a great crowd and great atmosphere,” BRCC men’s coach Todd Foster said.

“Winning the first game of the season is more of a relief than anything,” said BRCC women’s coach Michael Landers of his 1-2 squad. “Now the players can take a deep breath and relax and work on getting better.

“There was a lot of work to be done by a lot of people to be ready for this first home game. Now that we’ve actually been through it once, it’ll be easier. We’re another outlet to watch exciting basketball in Baton Rouge.”

BRCC MEN 77, PEARL RIVER 72: The Bears (3-0) had a 39-20 lead in the first half following two straight baskets by Paul Hilliard.

BRCC led 46-31 at the half, but the Wildcats went on a 6-0 run to open the second half and tied the game two times before taking their first lead of the game at 64-61. Arsenio Francis hit a 3-pointer and a tip-in as BRCC pulled ahead 66-64 with 2:46 remaining. Pearl River’s Denzel McDaniel converted a three-point play.

BRCC regained the lead for good at 69-67 on a 3-pointer by Josh Washington. William Nelson added four points down the stretch and Francis drove the baseline and converted a floater for a key basket.

Trailing 75-72 with 10 seconds remaining, Pearl River isolated McDaniel for a step back 3-pointer but Washington had him well covered on the play.

“We’ve got to get better at playing with the lead,” Foster said. “We’ve had double-digit leads in every game and the other teams have come back on us. We didn’t maintain our intensity. We didn’t execute offensively well in the second half. Pearl River deserves credit for fighting back.”

Nelson led the Bears with 22 points and six rebounds. Hilliard added 19 points and Francis 13. Zach Vickers scored 12 to pace PRCC (1-1).