WESSON – The No. 7 nationally-ranked Co-Lin Lady Wolves (16-1,8-0) survived a scare in the closing seconds to prevail over thePearl River Lady Wildcats 62-60 Monday night at Mullins Gymnasiumon Coach Gwyn Young Court.

In the men’s action, the Co-Lin Wolves rallied in the second halfbut came up short in the final play as the No. 11-ranked PearlRiver Community College Wildcats escaped with a 54-53 win.

The Lady Wolves and Wolves return to action Thursday, hosting theHinds Bulldogs for a big South Division matchup. The game is set tobegin with the women at 6 p.m., followed by the men.

Co-Lin 62, Pearl River 60

The Lady Wolves led by as much as 16 points before the LadyWildcats started to make a rally and trimmed the lead to threepoints with 46 seconds left in the game.

Pearl River’s Kenyatta Epps was fouled on a three-point shot with14 seconds left that would have tied the game. She made 2 of 3 freethrows that cut Co-Lin lead to 61-60.

Co-Lin’s Keosha Bradley was fouled twice in the last minute andwent one of three from the charity line that gave the Lady Wolves a62-60 lead.

The Lady Wildcats managed to get the last shot of the game with 7seconds left to either tie the game or go for the win. BranitaMalone received the ball on the inbound and elected to shoot thethree. A gasp came from the crowd as they saw the ball rim out asthe buzzer sounded.

The Lady Wolves had three players to score in double figures. KiaraEtienne was the leader with 16 points. Paige Webster contributed 15points. Brandi Simmons added 10 points.

“Our second team subs did a good job for us by pressuring the ballto create turnovers to get some easy baskets in which helped usgain momentum and build a lead in the first half,” said Co-Lincoach Gwyn Young. “In the second half, we were terrible. We did notrun our offense like we should and did not defend well.

“I give credit to Pearl River; they did not give up,” continuedYoung. “They fought back hard to get the last shot. Overall we justdid not handle their pressure well at the end.”

Sophomore guard Kenyatta Epps pumped in a team high 16 points tolead the Lady Wildcats (6-9, 3-4). Francheska Bowman knocked down12 points. Nicole Holder chipped in with 10 points for PRCC, whichis coached by Toby Bush.

Pearl River 54, Co-Lin 53

The Wolves managed to put together a rally in the closing secondsas Co-Lin’s Earnest Wafer nailed a 3-pointer with 10 seconds leftin the game to cut Pearl River’s lead to 54-53.

On the next play, Co-Lin fouled Wildcat guard Pedro Maciel to sendhim to the line for a one-plus opportunity. He missed the freethrow with 5 seconds remaining. Co-Lin’s Jamaal McCoy rebounded theball and passed it to Wafer. Wafer took the ball up the court andsaw teammate Marcus Hooten breaking toward the goal. Hooten leaptfor the pass to get a potential layup but lost the handle on theball as time expire.

Hooten pumped in a game-high 20 points to lead the Wolves (7-10,3-5). Wafer chipped in with 16 points.

“The guys competed hard,” said Co-Lin coach Dennis Sims. “We didnot execute very well toward the end. The overall factor that lostus the game was free throws. You can not expect to win games if yougo 4 for 11 from the line.”

The Wildcats (16-2, 6-1) were led in scoring by Phillip Crawfordwith 13 points. Emil Jones contributed 12 points for Coach RichardMathis.