By Stan Caldwell

PRCC Sports Information

POPLARVILLE – Pearl River Community College put the pedal to the metal late in the first half, and never looked back in an 87-65 rout of Meridian in men's basketball action Monday night at M.R. White Coliseum.

PRCC remained undefeated at 7-0 overall with the win in its South Division opener. Meridian dropped to 2-5 and 0-1.

The Eagles hung with the Wildcats for the much of the first half. After Meridian tied the game 15-15 midway through the period, PRCC got a four-point play by sophomore Rodney Mallett (Lexington) on a 3-pointer and a foul shot to take the lead for good.

That was the start of a 15-1 run that put the Wildcats firmly in command. Pearl River outscored Meridian 29-7 over the final 11 minutes of the first half to lead 44-22 at halftime, and led by as many as 29 points in the second half.

The Wildcats shot 53.8 percent (28 of 52) from the field and were 26 of 30 (86.7 percent) from the foul line.

Freshman Cedric Brim Jr. (Tupelo) scored 23 points to lead the Wildcats. Freshman Eric Thornton Jr. (Jackson) added 14 points, sophomore Cameron Douglas (Columbus) had 11 points and redshirt sophomore Jerrod Rigby had 10. Freshman Jonas James III (Jackson) had 9 assists and 6 steals.

PRCC will return to action at 4 p.m. Jan. 6, hosting Capital City Prep, then Delgado (La.) visits for 7:30 p.m. game on Jan. 9. The Wildcats resume division play on Jan. 11 at Southwest.  

PRCC BASKETBALL SUMMARY

MEN

Monday at Poplarville

Pearl River 87, Meridian 65

MCC    22        43        –          65

PRCC   44        43        –          87

MERIDIAN (2-5, 0-1 in South): Alex Perry 12, Chris Moody 2, Eric Fuller 18, Tarrance Davis 4, Thomas Grayson 4, Timothy Lacey 18, Dontaidrae Scott 7.

PEARL RIVER (7-0, 1-0 in South): Jonas James III 7 (9 assists, 6 steals), Cedric Brim Jr. 23, Rodney Mallett 6, Eric Thornton Jr. 13, Brandon Cranford 6, Cameron Douglas 11, Jerrod Rigby 10, Ray Anderson 2, Brandon Kimble 4, Kirk Parker 1, Jartavious Dobbs 4.