SENATOBIA – Sophomore transfer guard Jakobi Pearson garnered 25 points, six rebounds, six assists and six steals to help propel Northwest to an 81-75 victory against Holmes in Monday evening's regular season finale.

Northwest officially locked up third place in the MACJC North Division with the victory, finishing the regular season at 15-8 overall and 7-5 in division play. The Rangers will await the outcome of Thursday's games to determine its opponent in the first round of the tournament, which will be held Feb. 24-27 at the Scooba campus of East Mississippi Community College.

Trailing 8-6 early in the first half, the Rangers responded with a three-pointer from James Richards III and three consecutive free throws from Ernest Minton to take a 12-8 lead five minutes into the contest.

A layup from Minton put Northwest up by five before the Bulldogs embarked on a 7-0 run over a three and a half minute span, regaining an 18-16 advantage halfway through the opening half.

Holmes continued to gash the Rangers in the paint, stretching its lead to 27-19 after a thunderous dunk from Brandon Weatherspoon with less than five minutes to go.

Northwest pulled back within one after a 9-2 scoring burst as the Bulldogs saw their lead trimmed down to 29-28 with 1:13 remaining, but three free throws from Kaleb Higgins pushed Holmes back to a four-point advantage.

Milton McGee, Jr. would get the last word in for the Rangers as the first half drew to a close, sinking a three-pointer as Minton followed with a free throw with six seconds to go, tying the contest at 32-32 at halftime.

Northwest opened the second half on a strong note with a pair of free throws from Pearson and a layup from R.J. Duhart, going up by four within the first 50 seconds of the half.

Both teams traded ties and baskets for the next couple of minutes until the Rangers picked up six straight points from McGee, Jr. and Duhart, taking a seven-point advantage at 52-45 with 14:30 left in regulation.

Northwest never surrendered the lead for the remainder of the contest but the Bulldogs hung around to make things interesting. The Rangers took their largest lead of nine points multiple times over the final 14 minutes of action, only to see Holmes pull within striking distance, the closest being a two-point deficit with 6:36 left.

Richards scored 21 points for the Rangers for just his second 20-point effort of his career. The Southaven native also posted six assists and five rebounds, while Duhart fell just shy of a double-double with 12 points and nine boards.

Four Holmes players finished in double figures, led by 25 points from Higgins and 18 points with nine rebounds from Josiah Lewis.

Northwest shot 45 percent compared to 55 percent from Holmes and the Bulldogs also outscored the Rangers 40-32 in the paint. Both teams finished nearly even in rebounds with Northwest finishing with a slight 38-36 edge.

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