SENATOBIA – Led by Kendrick Fountain's second career double-double, three Rangers finished in double figures despite a 74-67 loss to East Mississippi on Monday night at Howard Coliseum.

Northwest fell to 11-9 and 4-6 in the MACJC North Division, while EMCC improved to 14-7 and 8-2 with the season sweep of the Rangers.

Fountain got the Rangers going early with a pair of back-to-back threes that helped Northwest take a 10-3 lead, but the Lions quickly got a boost from Donte Powers and Dewayne Cox that brought the Lions within one.

With 12:34 remaining in the first half, East Mississippi took its first lead, 18-13, off a three-pointer from Terryonte Thomas, only to have Northwest return the favor at 24-22 with a jumper from Fountain.

After Powers put the Lions back ahead 26-24, Northwest closed the first half on a 10-2 run - highlighted by a pair of threes from Jitaurious Gordon and Alec Rayburn - to take a 34-28 lead into the locker room.

Even with the late momentum from the Rangers in the first half, EMCC countered with a 10-2 run to open the second half and regained a 40-38 advantage.

Trailing by eight with 13:24 to go, Northwest slowly carved back into the Lions' lead and jumped back ahead 58-57 after a big three-pointer from Nick Edwards.

The lead would be short-lived however, as Cox and Thomas put EMCC back ahead yet again with 4:37 to go.

Northwest managed to hang around over the final stretch of regulation, even cutting the lead down to three with 40 seconds to go, but the Rangers were unable to hit shots in the end and fell to the Lions on the home floor.

EMCC out-shot Northwest 29-12 at the charity stripe and outscored the Rangers 25-0 in fast break points and 24-18 in the paint. Northwest finished with a 25-7 advantage in bench points.

Fountain finished with 18 points and 13 rebounds, with Gordon and Rayburn adding 16 points apiece. Edwards also provided nine points off the bench.

Dewayne Cox and Robert Davis Jr. led East Mississippi with 24 and 18 points, respectively. Markedric Bell and Darrious Agnew pulled down a combined 27 boards.

Northwest will host Mississippi Delta on Thursday, Feb. 14 at 7 p.m. for sophomore night and the final home contest of the season. Both the game and ceremony will be streamed on nwccrangers.com/watch.