POPLARVILLE, Miss. — The No. 18 Pearl River men's basketball team heads into Thanksgiving break on a high note after defeating Southern University – Shreveport 73-60 for its fourth consecutive win.
"If you ask me, I still think we could have played better defense. We made mistakes," head coach Chris Oney said. "It is promising when you hold a team to 60 points and below. If we can continue to do that and fix the mistakes we're seeing, I think it will be really promising."
GAME RECAP
Pearl River (5-1 overall) got off to a solid start as Cedquavious Hunter (Como; North Panola) nailed a 3-pointer 18 seconds into the game. A few plays later, Austin Green (Sicklerville, N.J.; Timber Creek Regional) went 2-for-2 from the free-throw line to make it a 5-2 game.
Southern-Shreveport fought back to snatch the lead 12-11 before Hunter propelled the Wildcats back in front with a 3-pointer from the top of the arc, 14-12.
PRCC built out an 18-14 advantage when Dyllion Redmond (Jackson; Callaway) grabbed an offensive rebound and passed out to Beverly. The pass drew the defender, and Beverly sent it right back to Redmond for a thunderous two-handed slam.
SUSLA didn't go away, though, fighting back to retake the lead 27-25 with 6:21 remaining in the first half of play.
Pearl River took a 34-30 lead following a Davion James (Brandon; Northwest Rankin) fadeaway jumper and a Tye Gholar (Jackson; Provine) corner 3-pointer. Gholar knocked down another 3-pointer after a great pass from Dorien Goodman (Dallas, Texas; Lancaster), 39-33.
The Wildcats entered the midway point with a 41-35 advantage.
Despite being held to just two points in the first half, the Green takeover began with 16:51 left in the contest as he drove inside for a layup, 45-39. Just a few minutes later, Green hauled in an offensive rebound and kissed it off the glass for a score. On the following play, he backed his way into a defender, went under a defender and up for a basket, extending the lead to 49-43.
He'd pick up three more baskets down the stretch to extend the Pearl River lead to 10 points at 56-46.
David Combest Jr. (Hattiesburg; Forrest County) added to his highlight reel with just over nine minutes left as he grabbed a defensive rebound and rushed down the court for a layup through a hard foul. He stepped up to the charity stripe and buried the free throw, 59-48.
The Wildcats struck on the inbound pass late in the contest. Goodman was over to take the inbound and saw Gholar wide open in the corner. He slung a pass over to the freshman, and his catch-and-shoot ability allowed him to knock down a 3-pointer, 66-50.
The Wildcats continued to add to the advantage and walked away with a 73-60 victory over the Jaguars.
BY THE NUMBERS
Green finished his evening with 17 points. Hunter and Dawson Jr. tied for second on the team with 15 points.
Green and Dawson Jr. were each one rebound shy of collecting a double-double, finishing with nine apiece.
"Since this summer when we went to play, Ezzy has been our steadiest player," Oney said. "He's the same every day in practice. He works extremely hard."
Goodman and James had three assists each.
UP NEXT
The Wildcats return to action Nov. 28 for a non-conference matchup against archrival Gulf Coast. Tipoff inside Marvin R. White Coliseum is set for 6 p.m.
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).