POPLARVILLE, Miss. — A back-and-forth game didn't go the Pearl River men's basketball team's way Monday night inside Marvin R. White Coliseum as the Wildcats dropped a heartbreaker to Holmes, 67-62.

"I felt like the effort was there after we finally got going in the first half," head coach Chris Oney said. "We started out so slow in the first six minutes of the first half. Once we got going, we had a little life. It carried over into the second half, but they started to press, and we were throwing the ball away. It's hard to win with 20 turnovers."

It looked as if Pearl River (19-6 overall; 6-5 MACCC) was in for a tough night at the beginning of its game against Holmes (18-8; 6-5) as the Bulldogs jumped out to an 11-point, 14-3 advantage with 12:10 remaining in the first half.

An Ezereke Dawson Jr. (Plant City, Fla.) takeover helped the Wildcats slowly but surely climb back into the game. Trailing 18-8, the sophomore threw down a vicious two-handed slam. On the following play, Dorien Goodman (Dallas, Texas; Lancaster) pulled down an offensive rebound and dished a pass down low to Dawson Jr. for another big dunk, 18-12. A Tye Gholar (Jackson; Provine) 3-pointer later, and the Wildcats only tailed by three points, 18-15.

HCC recovered from the quick Pearl River swing, fighting to extend its lead to 24-15. Thankfully for the Wildcats, Dawson Jr. was still money. He first snatched an offensive rebound off a missed 3-pointer and scored all in the same motion. He followed it up by knocking down a reverse layup off an offensive rebound, 24-19. A Ta'Zir Smith (Woodbridge, Va.; Virginia Academy) highlight got the Wildcats within three points as he grabbed a rebound, dashed down the court and nailed a contested floater, 24-21.

After trailing for almost the entire first half, Cedquavious Hunter (Como; North Panola) finally delivered PRCC its first lead of the game with 2:34 remaining in the first quarter on a long 3-pointer, 29-28. Little did those in attendance know, but the shot foreshadowed another unreal play by Hunter. With little time, Hunter received the inbound pass, ran down the court, and heaved up a prayer shot from three-quarters of the court distance. The guard's shot sailed through the air and hit nothing but net on the way down to beat the buzzer, 35-31.

PRCC's lead grew to eight points early in the second half off a Dawson Jr. reverse layup, 41-33. The Bulldogs responded by surging to take a 42-41 lead. The Wildcats momentarily retook the lead when Hunter fired a laser down low to Devin Jones (Camden; Velma Jackson) for a layup, 43-32. HCC surged again, though, moving in front 51-47.

Davion James (Brandon; Northwest Rankin) propelled Pearl River back in front at the 7:16 mark, hitting a jumper near the free-throw line off a quick pass by Hunter, 52-51. The teams traded the lead five more times, and the Wildcats eventually fell behind 65-58. 

Dawson Jr. knocked down two free throws and two more second-chance points down the stretch but couldn't recover, falling 67-62.

BY THE NUMBERS
Dawson Jr. had his best game as a Wildcat, finishing the night with a 26-point, 11-rebound double-double.  

Hunter also finished in double-digits, picking up 14 points, four rebounds and three assists.

UP NEXT
The Wildcats hit the road on Thursday for a 7 p.m. 'Cat Fight' against Jones College. The game will be livestreamed at JCBobcats.com/watch. Tickets can be purchased at JCBobcats.com/Tickets.

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