POPLARVILLE, Miss. — A last-second 3-point attempt to tie the game hit off the backboard and fell to the court for the Pearl River men's basketball team on Thursday night as it fell on the road against Southwest, 65-62.
GAME RECAP
Pearl River (18-5 overall; 5-3 MACCC) was in for a tough battle Thursday night on the road against Southwest (13-10; 4-4) and found itself in a rough situation early on, trailing 13-6.
The Wildcats crashed the boards on offense for some success to fight back into the game. The first basket saw Devin Jones (Camden; Velma Jackson) score a second-chance effort. Davion James (Brandon; Northwest Rankin) followed by snatching a rebound and nailing a fadeaway jumper, 13-10.
The three-point deficit was as close as the Wildcats could get in the first half as the Bears caught fire and carried a nine-point, 29-20 lead into the midway point.
A much different Wildcat team came out of the locker room for the second half of play and instantly rattled off an impressive 14-0 run. Dyllion Redmond (Jackson; Callaway) and Jones opened it with putback baskets before Jones struck again by spinning inside and scoring a layup. After a free throw from Redmond, Ta'Zir Smith (Woodbridge, Va.; Virginia Academy) nailed a pull-up jumper to square up the contest at 29-29.
Smith delivered a 2-for-2 showing at the free-throw line to give PRCC its first lead at the 15:33 mark in the second half. Smith picked up two more big scores for the Wildcats, hitting a 3-pointer and banking a jumper off the glass and in, 36-29.
The Bears roared back and cut PRCC's advantage to 42-41, but Cedquavious Hunter (Como; North Panola) immediately buried a 3-pointer from the top of the arc to extend things right back out, 45-41.
The teams tied twice at 46-46 and 48-48 before Smith began to put the Wildcats on his back again. He first grabbed an offensive rebound and scored and followed it up by hitting one of the most impressive 3-pointers of the year, firing an off-balance shot with a hand in his face to beat the shot clock and make the score 53-48 PRCC.
The five-point lead didn't last, though, as Southwest fought back to take a 58-57 lead with 2:06 remaining. Smith evened the game up one more time with a free throw, but the Bears stretched their lead out to 64-60 with little time remaining.
The Wildcats got within one score when David Combest Jr. (Hattiesburg; Forrest County) dashed down the court and weaved through the defense for a basket, 64-62. Forced to foul, PRCC needed Southwest to miss one of its two free throw attempts. After hitting the first shot, the second clanked off the rim and fell to Smith. The sophomore dashed down the court and laid the ball off to Hunter, who fired a long 3-point attempt at the buzzer that just missed, resulting in a 65-62 loss.
BY THE NUMBERS
Smith and Jones led Pearl River's offensive efforts, finishing with 20 points each. Ezereke Dawson Jr. (Plant City, Fla.) ended the night with nine points.
NEXT UP
Pearl River returns to Marvin R. White Coliseum on Tuesday for a 7:30 p.m. tipoff against Copiah-Lincoln.
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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