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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

BESSEMER – It’s been a difficult season for the Montevallo Bulldogs, but they got a big bright spot in their penultimate regular season game in the form of a long-awaited victory.

Montevallo defeated the Bessemer City Purple Tigers 64-39 on Tuesday, Jan. 28 on the road at Bessemer City High School to earn its second win of the season.

With the victory, the Bulldogs snapped a 21-game losing streak that started after their first win of the season against LAMP on Nov. 12.

The teams were fairly well-matched coming out of the gate as Bessemer City hit a pair of 3-pointer while Zabdy Perez and Makiyah Cathey led the way for the Montevallo offense, scoring six and four points in the first, respectively.

That gave the Bulldogs a 14-11 lead to take into the second quarter.

While the Purple Tigers made another pair of deep shots in the second, Alexis Morgan provided the response for Montevallo. She knocked down two 3-pointers as she scored her first eight points of the game in the second quarter.

She had all but four of her team’s points in the second as the Bulldogs extended their lead to 26-21 going into halftime.

With it still being a two-possession game coming out of the break, it was still anyone’s game for the taking. However, Montevallo stepped up and made sure it would walk out as the victor.

Cathey and Morgan erupted in the third quarter as Morgan made another pair of 3-pointers while scoring eight points for the second-straight quarter while Cathey added six points to her total.

They weren’t alone though as Maegen Gentry scored four points in the third while A’Maya Hudson, Alecia Hall and Perez all scored during that stretch. In all, six different Bulldogs combined for 23 points in the third quarter.

As a result, Montevallo outpaced Bessemer City 23-13 in the third and entered the fourth quarter with a 49-34 lead.

The Bulldogs continued to pour on the points in the fourth, spreading out the offense across six players for the second-straight quarter.

Playing with just five players for the entirety of the game, the Purple Tigers offense ran out of gas and scored only five points in the fourth quarter.

Montevallo’s offense outscored Bessemer City by 10 in the fourth and denied the hosts their first win of the season thanks to a season-high 64 points.

Morgan led the Bulldogs with 19 points while Cathey joined her in double figures with 12 points. Gentry finished with eight points, Perez scored seven points and Hudson and Hall each had six points.

In addition, Skii Qillman earned four points and Aaria Powell had two points as each player got opportunities to score their first points of the evening in the fourth quarter.

Montevallo improved to 2-23 on the season with the win. The Bulldogs will finish out the regular season at home on Friday, Jan. 31 at 6 p.m. against the St. Clair County Saints before the area semifinals against the Selma Saints on Monday, Feb. 3 at 6:15 p.m. at Selma High School.