By ALEC ETHEREDGE | Sports Editor

MONTEVALLO – It was a night meant for celebration on Friday, Feb. 1, as the Montevallo Bulldogs not only picked up a dominant 66-35 win against the Jemison Panthers, but earned head coach Greg Dickinson his 100th win as the team’s head coach in just six years’ time.

While it was a special night for Dickinson, who is now averaging 17 wins a season through his first six years at the helm, it was also a special night for guys like Alexander Tyes, Jarius Sullens and Omri Morton, as the Bulldogs honored their seniors before the game.

In the first quarter, the celebration was short lived, however, as Montevallo found itself in a quick hole. The Bulldogs struggled to get any sustained momentum in the opening quarter of the game and fell behind 13-9 at the end of the period.

Montevallo came into the game as the better of the two teams, and it looked as if it took the Bulldogs remembering they were the better team to play to their capability.

In the second, they bounced back by holding Jemison to just six points, which kick-started a two-quarter stretch where Montevallo held the Panthers to six points.

Offensively, the Bulldogs started showing some promise in the period, and while they didn’t put together their best quarter of the season, they had done enough to gain some confidence going into the locker room thanks to snatching away the lead at 23-19.

Coming out of the break, that score turned even more into the favor of the Bulldogs.

Montevallo not only continued strong defensive play by limiting the Panthers to just six points, but the Bulldogs scored 21 points to finally show the offense that can make this team so dangerous.

After that burst of scoring, they had pulled away to take a 44-25 lead heading to the final quarter.

That was just the start for Montevallo’s offenses as the Bulldogs added one more point to their third-quarter total by posting 22 in the final period.

They also limited the panthers to just 10 more points, to close out the dominant 66-35 effort.

Montevallo was led by junior Jamarius Carter with 18 points, 11 rebounds and two blocks, while Morton added nine points to close out his final home game with the Bulldogs. Another positive sign was freshman Michael Jones returning after a tough scene in a game at Shelby County where he was taken to the hospital. Jones finished the game with nine points after missing the last five games.