SENATOBIA – Sophomores De'Sean Dockery and Sharwyn McGee combined to score 46 points off 17-of-25 shooting to help Northwest keep its playoff hopes alive with an 89-77 win over Delta Monday night at Howard Coliseum.

Northwest improved to 9-10 overall and 3-7 in the division while Delta fell to 8-11 and 4-5 in the north.

The Rangers raced out to an early 20-9 lead in the game's opening six minutes and led by as many as 18 midway through the half.

Dockery scored the first six points of the game before McGee hit a couple of layups and Aston Morton nailed back-to-back 3-pointers.

Delta responded with a 20-6 run of its own to pull within 43-40 with 1:37 left in the half, using 14 points from Darius Dukes and 12 from Travon Harper.

Both teams shot over 50 percent in the period, with the Rangers taking a 48-42 lead at the break.

Northwest couldn't miss to start the second half and quickly put the game away, outscoring the Trojans 21-8 in the first 7:46 to stretch the lead to 70-52.

Delta never got within single digits the rest of the way.

Four Rangers finished in double figures, including 23 from Dockery and McGee, 14 from Morton and 12 from Ashton Woodson. Tavion Primer closed with seven assists, six rebounds and five points in a career-high 32 minutes of action.

Harper and Dukes finished with 20 apiece for Delta.

Northwest kept its slim state playoff hopes alive with two games remaining. The Rangers will have to beat Coahoma and East Mississippi and get some help from other teams to sneak into the fourth and final spot.

The Rangers travel to Coahoma on Thursday for an 8 p.m. tipoff at The Pinnacle.