SENATOBIA – Despite leading by 10 at halftime, Northwest was outscored 39-27 over the course of the second half as Coahoma spoiled the Rangers' previously unblemished home record with a 69-67 victory on Thursday evening.

Northwest dropped to 9-3 on the season and 1-1 in division competition, while also falling to 7-1 at Howard Coliseum. The loss is also the first one against Coahoma since Jan. 31, 2013, when the Rangers dropped an 87-84 decision in Clarksdale.

With the win, the Tigers improved to 5-6 overall and 1-1 in the MACJC North.

Transfer guard Jakobi Pearson proved to be nearly unstoppable in the early goings of the first half, hitting all 10 of the Rangers' points in the opening six minutes. Coahoma briefly made it a four-point game with Jamal Moore's fastbreak layup, only to see Northwest push the lead to 13 points, 23-10, with less than 10 minutes remaining in the first half.

As Jordan O'Neal began to catch fire for the Tigers, Coahoma began to slice into the double digit deficit, pulling within four with 6:33 to go. Northwest would again extend the lead to 10 with two minutes remaining in the half, with Milton McGee, Jr. nailing a three-pointer as an added bonus. O'Neal responded at the buzzer for Coahoma however, sending the Rangers into halftime with the 40-30 advantage.

After Cornelius Holly opened the second half on a fastbreak layup, Northwest would never regain its double digit foothold. Coahoma closed the gap to four, only for R.J. Duhart and Ernest Minton to push the lead back to eight on back-to-back layups with 16:44 to go.

Coahoma quickly responded with back-to-back three pointers from O'Neal and Kendall Richardson, pulling within two at 44-42. Leading just 50-49, the Rangers managed to go on a quick 6-0 run around the 10-minute mark for a 56-49 advantage.

Coahoma continued to loosen the Rangers' grip over the final 10 minutes of the contest, tying the match at 65 with 3:21 left before taking the lead permanently with a made free throw from O'Neal with just over two minutes remaining.

A pair of missed three-pointers and a missed dunk prevented Northwest from regaining the lead, although Duhart did cut the score to one with three seconds left, thanks to a dunk. Needing a turnover or a quick foul, the Rangers sent O'Neal to the charity stripe with 0.6 left to go but were unable to get a shot off, instead turning the ball over on the inbounds pass with 0.3 remaining.

Pearson led Northwest with 23 points, his seventh game of the season scoring 20 or more. James Richards III added 14 off the bench and R.J. Duhart finished with 11 points and five rebounds, while Minton totaled a team-high nine rebounds.

O'Neal fell just shy of a double-double with 29 points and eight rebounds for the Tigers. Richardson added 15 points off the bench, including 12 from beyond the arc.

Both teams finished near even in overall shooting as Coahoma finished 47 percent and Northwest finished 45 percent. One of the biggest differences came from three-point range however, as the Tigers shot 50 percent from beyond the arc, compared to just 18 percent for the Rangers.

Northwest will return to action at Northeast on Tuesday, Jan. 14 in Booneville. NEMCC is currently undefeated at 12-0 overall and 2-0 in the MACJC North after an 84-62 defeat of Itawamba. 

Tipoff is slated for 7:30 p.m. with live stats and broadcast links available at nwccrangers.com.