TANNER, Ala. Pearl River men's basketball team took the lead on its second possession and never looked back in an 84-62 victory Tuesday at Calhoun Community College. The Wildcats offense was propelled by Austin Green (Sickerville, N.J.; Timber Creek Regional) with 27 points and Ta'zir Smith (Woodbridge, Va.; Virginia Academy) adding 26.

"It is always good to end the semester with a win," Pearl River head coach Chris Oney said. "It was good to have Taz out there; we are a different team with him in the fold. He opens the floor for the other guys.
"I am looking forward to the guys getting back. Once again, I got a chance to see what I saw back in October. I know they are excited. I am looking forward to enjoying this little time off but can't wait to get back and get it back going and headed in the right direction."

FIRST HALF
Calhoun (6-6) scored first after controlling the opening tip, hitting a hook shot in the lane. Green took matters into his own hands, scoring the Wildcats first 16 points. Green opened with a pair of layups to give PRCC a 4-2 lead. After converting two free throws, Green, cutting through the lane, received a pass from Ezereke Dawson, Jr. (Plant City, Fla.) and made a layup, 8-5. Green continued to apply pressure, scoring on a strong drive to the basket, followed by an old-fashioned three-point play after being fouled on a made jump shot from the elbow, 13-7. Following a Calhoun timeout, Green hit a 3-pointer from the left corner to give the Wildcats a 16-11 lead.
Dawson entered the scoring column after a Calhoun miss. Cedquavious Hunter (Como, Miss.; North Panola) found Dawson cutting through the lane, and Dawson finished with an emphatic dunk, 18-11.
Smith, making his Pearl River debut, got his first point as a Wildcat, hitting a free throw after a hard foul on an attempted floater in the lane, 21-12. Smith would go on to score the next four points for the Wildcats. Coming out of a timeout, Tye Gholar (Jackson, Miss.; Provine) found Smith for a layup. Smith followed with a layup over Calhoun defenders on a Wildcat fastbreak, 25-14, leading to a Calhoun timeout.
Calhoun took advantage of the timeout, cutting the Wildcat lead to three, 25-22.
A basket by Devin Jones (Camden, Miss.; Velma Jackson) halted the Calhoun run and gave Pearl River the momentum. On the next Wildcat possession, Jones found Dorien Goodman (Dallas, Texas; Lancaster) cutting through the lane for a layup, 29-22.
Following a timeout, Dyllion Redmond (Jackson, Miss.; Callaway) found Smith with a nice pass over a Calhoun defender to increase the Wildcat lead to 18, 43-25.
After a five-point Calhoun run, Goodman beat the Warhawk press with a halfcourt pass to Smith, who scored on an easy layup. Smith closed the half, hitting a floater from the short corner at the buzzer to give the Wildcats a 47-30 halftime advantage.

SECOND HALF
Hunter opened the second half, scoring the Wildcats first five points. Hunter made both free throws after coming up with a loose ball on the Wildcat defensive end, driving the length of the court, and was fouled. Hunter followed with a 3-pointer from the wing to give Pearl River a 20-point advantage, 52-32.
Pearl River kept the 20-point advantage after Davion James (Brandon, Miss.; Northwest Rankin) dished the ball to Dawson, who finished the play with a dunk, 57-37. Smith followed with two straight baskets for Pearl River, the second score coming off a big dunk following a PRCC miss, 61-42. A Green layin following a PRCC miss gave the Wildcats a 63-44 lead and forced a timeout.
Calhoun took advantage of the timeout, scoring the next four points when play resumed. Jones halted the Warhawk run with a layup, 65-48. A Dawson dunk off a long pass by double-teamed James gave the Wildcats a 67-51 lead, leading to a timeout with 9:15 left in the contest.

Pearl River pushed its lead to 22 after Smith picked up a loose ball under the Calhoun basket, drove the court, and found Green under the basket for a layup, 75-53.
Following a timeout, Smith fed Dawson for a dunk to give Pearl River an 80-59 lead. Moments later, Green, off a pass from Smith, finished with a thunderous dunk to push the Wildcat lead to 25 points, 84-59.
Pearl River held on to walk away with an 84-62 victory.  

LEADING THE WAY
Green led all Wildcats with 27 points, followed by Smith with 26.

"Austin really got us off to a good start," Oney said. "that allowed Taz to get his feet underneath him. Their game plan, obviously, was to deny Dae Dae, that allowed us to get one-on-one opportunities."

NEXT UP
The Wildcats are off until January. Pearl River will host Baton Rouge on January 6. Tipoff inside Marvin R. White Coliseum is at 4 p.m. The game will be livestreamed at PRCCMedia.com/gold.

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. 

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