FULTON – Quentin Watkins scored a game-high 21 points and the conference's leading rebounder, Zane Knowles, pulled down eight rebounds and added 18 points as No. 2 Pearl River knocked off No. 3 seed Northwest, 75-59, in the opening round of the MACJC State Tournament from the Davis Event Center.

Pearl River improved to 13-10 overall and advances to the semifinal round to play 10th-ranked East Mississippi on Wednesday at 3 p.m. Northwest fell to 12-11 overall and will not return to the court until March 8 at the Region XXIII Tournament in Clinton.

Northwest led by as many as eight in the opening half with just over 4-minutes to play, but Pearl River closed the gap to 28-27 at the half.

Neither team shot well the opening 20 minutes, with the Rangers connecting on 36 percent and Pearl River just 29 percent from the floor.

The game took a turn for the worse early in the second half with Northwest leading, 35-30.

The Rangers were whistled for a questionable goaltending call that would have extended the lead to seven, and completely fell out of rhythm after that.

"The tempo of the game definitely changed," head coach Jimmy Adams said. "They went man-to-man and picked up their defensive game and we couldn't get back the fire. They ran off three or four buckets and extended it to double figures, and before long our guys started to doubt themselves. We've just got to be more mentally tough."

Pearl River couldn't miss the rest of the way, outscoring Northwest 45-22 after the call and closing the second half shooting a stifling 61 percent.

The Wildcats used a 44-37 advantage on the boards and made 11 more free throws.

Northwest was led offensively by Everick Morris' 19 points and DeMarcus McVay's 13 points, while both Domonique Harris and Darius Woods chipped in eight apiece.

Northwest will now turn its attention to the Region XXIII Tournament March 7-10 in Clinton. The Rangers will meet Southern-Shreveport in the first round on Thursday, March 8 at 8 p.m.