NEW ORLEANS, La. – In just the second road contest of the regular season, the Pearl River men's basketball team held off a gritty Delgado team. Pearl River had three Wildcats score in double digits in a hard-fought 72-66 victory in New Orleans on Saturday. 

"All road games are tough; this was our second true road game of the year," PRCC head coach Chris Oney said. "Delgado played with a lot of toughness; they executed well in the second half. We still have some young guys still trying to figure things out. I think we played just as hard and well enough to keep control of the game and get the victory." 

 

Pearl River (7-2 overall) controlled the momentum early in the first half, building a 13-4 lead over Delgado (2-9 overall). Delgado battled back with a seven-point run and closed the gap to two, 13-11. Five points off two baskets by Joah Chappelle (Jonesboro, Ga.; Dutchtown) stopped the Dolphin run and an 18-11 advantage. Delgado fought back and reduced the Wildcat lead to four, 20-16. Jamarion Smith (Magnolia; South Pike) and Krystian Lewis (Monroe, La.; Wossman) scored five unanswered points for PRCC to extend the lead to nine, 25-16. Dylan Sanders (Auror, Colo.) ended the first half with a big 3-pointer to give the Wildcats a 30-20 lead at the break. 

Chappelle opened the second half with a hot hand, scoring six of the Wildcats first eight points of the half, 38-25. Kedrick Osby (Moss Point) added three more points to push the Pearl River advantage to 16, 41-25. Once again showing their grit, the Dolphins swung momentum to their favor with a nine-point run, 41-34. A basket by Osby, the first of his six straight Wildcat points, stopped a Dolphin run, 43-34. 

The Wildcats built the lead to eleven with a 3-pointer by Sanders, 51-41. Following a Delgado 3-pointer, Lewis scored to give the Wildcats a 10-point advantage, 54-44. Another run by the Wildcats, with baskets by Lewis and Chappelle, gave Pearl River a 14-point lead, 60-46.

Delgado had another big eight-point run late in the half to close the deficit to five, 67-62. The Wildcats held off the late Dolphin charge, and with five points from Lewis, the Wildcats held on for a 72-66 win. 

 

Three Wildcats finished with double digits in scoring. Chappelle finished with 21 points, followed by Lewis with 18. Osby had a double-double on the day, registering 15 points and 11 rebounds. 

"All year, they understand what their role is; it is to be upfront and lead us to victory," Oney said.

Sanders finished with nine points off three 3-pointers. 

"Dylan hit the three threes, including the one at the half, that was huge," Oney said. "They started shading to his side, and he couldn't get open like he wanted to. That allowed Kedrick, Joah and Krystian to get opportunities in the paint."

 

The Wildcats host the William Carey JV squad on Tuesday. Tipoff in Marvin R. White Coliseum is 6 p.m. 

 

All home Pearl River basketball games are livestreamed for free at PRCCMedia.com/Gold. Fans with 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.

 

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