CLINTON — Free throw shooting came back to haunt the Co-LinWolves Wednesday night in the semifinals of the NJCAA Region 23Men’s Basketball Tournament.

Co-Lin went 11 of 21 at the charity line while the NorthwestRangers were 15 of 28 on their way to a 68-66 win in A. E. WoodColiseum on the Mississippi College campus.

Co-Lin finished the season with a 16-9 record.

Northwest improved to 28-2 and faces Pearl River tonight in thechampionship game at 8 p.m. Pearl River came back to beat statechamp Holmes 71-70 in the other men’s semis.

The Lady Wolves, coached by Gwyn Young, meet the Northeast LadyTigers at 6 in the women’s title matchup. Northeast put awayNorthwest 89-64 in the other women’s semis.

Northwest 68, Co-Lin 66

“Northwest made their free throws and we didn’t,” said Co-Linmen’s head coach Dennis Sims after the game.

Co-Lin sophomore guard Joe Holliday nailed his seventh trey atthe 1:00 mark to tie the game at 66-all. With 31.4 remaining in thegame, sophomore guard Ivory Dishmon had a chance to put the Wolvesahead but missed both free throws.

Sophomore forward Arvel Keys was called for a foul on Northwestsophomore guard Adrian Banks with 3.4 seconds left in the game.Banks, who led the Rangers with 22 points, netted both freebies topush Northwest’s lead to 68-66.

In the final seconds, Co-Lin sophomore guard Geric Andersondrove the lane for a layup, but it rolled off the rim with no timeleft as the Rangers held on for the win and a shot at the Region 23title.

Sims substituted several groups in the first half but nocombination seemed to work. Co-Lin trailed 9-3 with 14:03, 19-7 at11:43 then closed it to 10 points several times before trailing33-21 at halftime.

“We were out of it early in the game,” stated Sims.

The Wolves persisted in the second half and got back into thegame. A trey and field goal from Holliday sparked the Co-Linoffense which cut the deficit to 59-52 with 6:48 remaining in thecontest.

Holliday’s field goal tied the game at 63-all with 2:51 on theclock.

“I’m proud of our guys for coming back,” added Sims. “We cameback hard on defense. We still should have gotten that lastshot.”

Holliday was the high scorer for the Wolves with 31 points,including 7 treys. At halftime, Holliday had four points. IvoryDishmon fired in 13 points, made 4 steal and had 4 assists. Keysled off the backboards with 7 rebounds followed by ChristianMarshall with 6.

Directing Coach Don Skelton’s Rangers with 22 points was Banks.Antonio Logwood pumped in 11 points followed by Tarrell Wilson with10 points and 7 rebounds.

Pearl River 71, Holmes

Wesley Jones directed the Pearl River men with 30 points.

Sean John son netted 22 points for Holmes.

Northeast 89, Northwest 64

Jessica Hooker’s 20 points sparked the Northeast women.

Directing Northwest with 22 points was Damaesha Harris.