Co-Lin basketball starts conference play with sweep of Southwest CC
Published 10:00 am Saturday, January 7, 2023
- CO-LIN ATHLETICS PHOTO Co-Lin netted two wins against Southwest Thursday.
Both Copiah-Lincoln Community College basketball teams trailed at halftime Thursday in their conference openers with Southwest Mississippi CC.
In Wesson, the Co-Lin men found themselves in a big halftime hole — trailing 46-31 at the break.
The Wolves came out hot after halftime and quickly extinguished that lead on the way to winning 88-84 in the first Mississippi Association of Community Colleges Conference (MACCC) league game for both teams.
While the men were playing in Copiah County, the two women’s teams from each school were tangling 30 miles south in Summit.
Southwest led 31-25 at halftime, but a huge third quarter by the visitors helped give the Co-Lin women a 69-67 victory.
The win over Southwest was career win no. 998 for legendary Co-Lin women’s basketball coach Gwyn Young.
Young’s team will play at Southern University-Shreveport on Monday, Jan. 9. SUSLA and CLCC met back on Nov. 15 in a tournament game hosted by Southwest. Shreveport won that matchup 68-64 and is the lone blemish on a 10-1 overall record for Co-Lin.
A win against Shreveport could set up Young to coach for win no. 1,000 when his team will host East Mississippi (2-6) on Thursday, Jan. 12.
The matchup against Southwest on Thursday was similar to a non-conference pairing played between the schools on Dec. 1. Co-Lin won that night 68-64 in overtime.
Sophomore guard Zykeria Anderson (Raymond HS) continued to be excellent as she’s been all season, leading Co-Lin with 24 points, eight assists and seven rebounds.
CLCC had three players in double figures with sophomore guard Tandria Minor (Brandon HS) chipping in 15 points and sophomore forward Jamey McDaniel (North Pike), a transfer from Holmes CC, adding a season high 17 points off the bench.
Co-Lin was just 2-of-15 from the 3-point line, but finished 23-of-29 from the free-throw stripe.
Brookhaven High product Ayanna McNairy added seven points towards the Co-Lin total in 29 minutes of action.
Southwest fell to 9-4 overall with the loss.
In Wesson, the CLCC men were led by four players in double figures. Freshman Dylan Canoville (Plantation, Fla.) came off the bench to score 20 points and grab 15 rebounds for the Wolves.
Kaeden Laws (Center Hill) added 17 points for CLCC and sophomore Jermario Hersey (Brookhaven High) added 15 points in 22 minutes off the bench.
Sophomore center AJ Warnsley scored 13 points for the Wolves.
Second year head coach David Sanders has Co-Lin at 7-3 overall with all three of those loses coming against out-of-state competition.
Sanders and his squad will travel to East Mississippi (10-1) on Jan. 12 and then host Holmes on Jan. 17 in Wesson.