NATCHEZ — In the words of assistant head coach David Haywood, the Natchez Bulldogs “stuck to the script” against Long Beach on the road, producing a first-round playoff win for the Bulldogs.

Forcing the Bearcat guards to beat them by focusing their defensive effort in the paint, Natchez was able to create turnovers and generate easy baskets in route to a 55-39 win Tuesday night.

“Our guys rotated well on defense,” Haywood said. “We were able to play with playoff pressure defense, and that helped us dictate the game. When you play like that, the results of the game takes care of itself.”

Natchez took an 11-7 lead into the second quarter before blowing the game open with a 19-6 second period. Coming out of the half with a 30-13 lead, Natchez poured the pressure on and extended its lead to 48-18 to end the third quarter.

“Guys were making the extra passes tonight,” Haywood said. “I challenged them at the beginning of the game to play a complete 32 minutes. We made a bunch of assists tonight, and the guys played together on both ends of the court.”

Leading the way offensively for Natchez was Daryl Jones and Dominique Mazique. Jones scored 23 points, while Mazique contributed 21 to Bulldogs’ road victory.

With the win, Natchez will travel to play Pascagoula at 7 p.m. Saturday.