Wolves fall short to Pearl River in South Division matchup
Published 1:36 pm Tuesday, January 31, 2017
The Copiah-Lincoln Community College Wolves lost a heart breaker Monday night to Pearl River Community College in Mullen Gymnasium, 88-77. The loss moves the Wolves to 9-7 on the year and 3-4 in the MACJC South Division. The Wolves are back in action Thursday as Jones County travels to Wesson. The game is scheduled for 8 p.m. and fans are asked to wear camouflage. Watch the game live at colinathletics.com or listen live at WMJU 104.3 FM in Brookhaven.
“We studied a lot of film and were very prepared, but that was the best shooting performance by Pearl River I’ve seen all year,” said head coach Kenny Bizot. “I’m proud of our guys for battling back into this ballgame tonight.”
The Wolves got off to an extremely slow start Monday night as Pearl River leapt to a 27-7 lead in the first eight minutes of play. The Wildcats went on 16-0 run that lasted nearly five minutes. The Wolves refused to quite late in the half as they slowly began chipping at the Wildcat’s lead. Ronnie Edwards, a freshman from Brookhaven, led the charge from Co-Lin with a quick seven-point burst of offense. Going into the locker room Co-Lin trailed by only eight.
In the second half the Wolves continued to stay in the game with impressive free throw shooting and tenacious defensive play. With just 7:08 remaining in the contest the Wolves narrowed the Wildcats lead to just three. Co-Lin was unable to overcome this small margin as the Wolves made several costly turnovers in the final minutes of play while the Wildcats continued to score baskets.
Four of the Wolves starting five players netted double digits. Lamarcus Lee led the team with 23 points and three assists. Youry White finished the night with 13 points, Ronnie Edwards posted 12 points, and Jonathan “Biscuit” Floyd and Trae Thompson had 10. White led the team on the boards with nine rebounds.
Jamani Glover led the Wildcats with 22 points while Jerrod Rigby finished with 17. Brandon Sheppard posted a double-double for Pearl River with 13 points and 11 rebounds.
Co-Lin shot 41 percent (27-for-65) from the field, 40 percent (9-for-22) from three-point range, and 74 percent (14-of-19) from the free throw line. The Wolves brought down 28 rebounds. Pearl River shot 59 percent (31-for-53) from the field, 64 percent (7-for-11) from three-point range, and 73 percent (19-for-26) from the foul line. The Wildcats grabbed 37 rebounds.