SENATOBIA – Tied at the 15:32 mark of the first half, homestanding Northwest took the lead on a breakaway dunk from freshman Kenyatta Jones and trailed just twice the final 35 minutes as they held off Mid-South (Ark.) for an 88-78 win Tuesday night at Howard Coliseum.

Northwest improved to 2-0 on the young season, while visiting Mid-South dropped to 0-4.

For a second-straight game, Northwest shot over 50 percent and four players scored in double figures, paced by 13 points apiece from freshman Tevin Moore and sophomore A.J. Cunningham. Freshman DeMarcus McVay added 11 points and sophomore Darius Woods chipped in 10 points, seven assists and six rebounds.

Northwest closed the first half on a 19-8 run to take a 51-43 lead into intermission, jumpstarted again by Jones, who knocked down a 3-pointer at the 5:51 mark to break a 34-34 tie.

Both teams were zoned in on the rim the opening 20 minutes, with Mid-South shooting 64 percent on 16-of-25 aim and Northwest connecting on 21-of-37 shots for 57 percent. The Greyhounds also banged in 7-of-9 3-pointers, including two apiece from Chris Wilson and Jalen Smith.

The Rangers extended their lead to a game-high 14 points, 63-49, with 14:33 remaining before an 11-1 Mid-South run closed the gap to four with just over 10 minutes remaining.

The teams continued to exchange buckets the ensuing six minutes before Moore's layup at the 4:32 mark stretched the Ranger lead to 82-72 and allowed Northwest to hold on for a double digit win.

Northwest finished the game shooting at a 53 percent clip, with Mid-South shooting right at 50 percent. The teams were deadlocked on the glass, each pulling down 37 rebounds, with the difference in the game coming down to turnovers.

Smith led Mid-South with a game-high 16 points on 7-of-9 aim, one of three Greyhounds in double figures.

Northwest will hit the road for its next five contests, traveling to Utica Thursday night for an 8 p.m. tilt against Hinds. Northwest routed the Bulldogs 109-88 last year in Senatobia.

Follow in-game stats vs. Hinds here: www.sidearmstats.com/northwestms/mbball/index.htm