GOODMAN – Northwest carried a one-point lead into the locker room at Holmes Thursday night before the host Bulldogs caught fire from the floor to outscore the Rangers by 15 in the second half for an 80-66 win.

Holmes improved to 13-7 overall and 7-2 in the north, while Northwest dropped to 12-7 and 5-4 in division play.

Northwest scored the game's first five points, using Shelby McEwen's layup and a 3-pointer from Alex Shepard, before a 12-5 Bulldog run knotted the game at 12 apiece.

The teams exchanged six leads and five ties the final 10 minutes of the period. Brandon Cranford's jumper was answered by Malik McNair's 3-pointer with 19 seconds left in the first half to make it a 41-40 game at the break.

Northwest missed nine of its first 10 shots to start the second half, allowing the Bulldogs to build their lead to a 54-45 with 14:38 to play.

As they did in Senatobia a few weeks back, Holmes couldn't miss from the floor. The Bulldogs shot 55 percent in the second half against 29 percent for the Rangers, with Holmes getting big time bench play.

Mikkel Norment scored a game-high 23 off the bench, nine in the second half, as the Bulldog bench scored 51 combined.

Northwest pulled within 59-50 with 10:48 to play but would get no closer the rest of the way.

Shepard led all Rangers with 11 points, followed by Dante Sterling with 10 points and six assists.

Northwest will look to bounce back Monday night, playing host to Mississippi Delta at 7 p.m.