POPLARVILLE, Miss. — The No. 18 Pearl River men's basketball team got off to a slow start Friday night against Southern Union State in the Pearl River Classic but recovered to run away with a 75-60 victory over the Bison.
"They came out in a defense that we hadn't seen them use when we watched film," head coach Chris Oney said. "We were trying to make up stuff on the fly. In that aspect, we did well. It feels good to watch this team make those adjustments. This is a new team, and we are all still learning. It was cool to watch us come up with stuff to attack their 2-2-1 halfcourt trap."
GAME RECAP
Southern Union State (1-5 overall) took it to the Wildcats (4-1) to open the night, dashing out to a 13-3 lead. PRCC pulled within six points after Dorien Goodman (Dallas, Texas; Lancaster) fired a pass inside to Ezereke Dawson Jr. (Plant City, Fla.) for a two-handed slam. Austin Green (Sicklerville, N.J.; Timber Creek Regional) followed by slashing home a pull-up jumper from just outside the paint, 13-7.
Pearl River took its first lead of the contest with 6:26 remaining in the first half. Kam Beverly (Jackson; Jackson Academy) drew a foul, went to the free-throw line and knocked down two shots, 20-19.
PRCC's lead stretched to 28-21 soon after. Goodman whipped a laser of a pass inside the paint to Dawson Jr. for an easy basket. Dawson Jr. added another score on the following possession, knocking down a layup through hard contact.
The Wildcats moved ahead by 13 points late in the first half when Tye Gholar (Jackson; Provine) caught a pass in the corner and fired a 3-pointer, 38-25.
Cedquavious Hunter (Como; North Panola) was deadly from beyond the arc to begin the second half of play. The Cal State Bakersfield transfer caught a pair of passes and smashed home a pair of 3-pointers to build out a 45-27 PRCC advantage.
Dawson Jr. increased the lead to 56-43 with 10:43 remaining. The Kaskaskia transfer missed his first shot attempt but snatched the offensive rebound and banked it off the glass and into the net.
Davion James (Brandon; Northwest Rankin) turned in a highlight reel play just a few possessions later. He was fed a pass inside the arc. He backed into his defender, spun around and nailed a fadeaway jumper, 60-45. James added in a 3-pointer soon after. He set a pick for Goodman, rolled out, caught the feed and hit nothing but net on his shot attempt, 68-50.
Josh Holmes (Picayune) joined in on the scoring fun a few points later, catching a pass from Gholar and knocking down a pull-up jumper, 72-50.
A few players later, Rich'ard Frazier (Hattiesburg; Forrest County) channeled his inner LeBron James, chasing down what appeared to be an easy fastbreak layup and blocking the ball off the backboard to end the threat.
Just before the contest ended, Holmes slashed a 3-pointer to help Pearl River walk away with a 75-60 victory.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
Pearl River placed five players in double figures. Dawson Jr. was first with 15, and Green was second with 13. Combest Jr., Hunter and James finished with 12, 11 and 10, respectively.
"I love seeing this many guys in double figures," Oney said. "I've been doing this long enough to know that when you get late into conference and into playoff time — the more guys that can get into double figures, the harder you are to defend."
James hauled in 10 rebounds to finish the night with a double-double. Dawson Jr. had seven rebounds, and Dyllion Redmond (Jackson; Callaway) had six.
Goodman had a team-high five assists.
NEXT UP
Pearl River continues the Pearl River Classic on Saturday with a 4 p.m. matchup against Southern University - Shreveport.
TUNE IN
All home Pearl River basketball games are livestreamed for free at PRCCMedia.com/Gold. Fans who have Roku, Amazon Fire or Apple TV devices can also watch the Wildcat broadcasts by downloading the "Pearl River CC" channel from their app stores.
Games will also be available over the air in Pearl River County by tuning into 1320 AM and 106.9 FM. The radio broadcast is also available at WRJWRadio.com and by downloading the WRJW app.
TICKETS
To help improve traffic flow and fan experience, PRCC athletics box offices will be cashless in 2023-24. Only credit and debit cards will be accepted at the box office. Fans are encouraged to beat the lines and purchase their tickets in advance at PRCCAthletics.com/Tickets.
For the latest on Pearl River Community College athletics, follow us on X (@PRCCAthletics) and Facebook (PRCCAthletics).