WESSON — Co-Lin passed its first South Division test of theseason Monday night, beating the Pearl River Community CollegeWildcats 54-48 in Mullen Gymnasium. The Wolves were directed byguard Trent Hutchin’s 14 points, followed by Anthony Wilcher with12 and Greg Truvillion with 10.

The Wolves (7-4, 1-0) rebounded from a disappointing performanceagainst Northeast last Thursday in Mullen gym. Co-Lin head coachDennis Sims said the improvement was evident on defense.

“Defensively, it was totally different than last time,” saidSims. “We guarded and rebounded better.”

Truvillion, working at center, encountered foul trouble butHutchin took up the offensive slack, hitting several key shots andkeeping the Wildcats (7-5, 0-1) down.

“Hutchin got open to take shots at the end,” said Sims. “We wereable to slow down the game.”

Pearl River coach Richard Mathis said Co-Lin set the game’stempo. “Co-Lin guarded us really well and made us do thingsdifferently. They also made us guard them by slowing down thegame.

“Co-Lin was well-coached and took us out of our game plan,”Mathis pointed out.

The Wolfpack got 6 assists and 3 steals from guard Corey London.Guard Julius Blanked grabbed 6 rebounds. As a team, Co-Lin made 76percent of its free throws.

Co-Lin made 40 percent of its field goal attempts, compared toPRCC’s 39 percent.

Pearl River got 13 points each from Jovanni Sims, a 6-5sophomore forward from Milwaukee, Wis., and Jamarcus Jackson, a 6-4sophomore forward from Hattiesburg.

Co-Lin plays a South Division twinbill at archrival SouthwestThursday night, starting with the women’s game at 5 p.m.