FULTON - It's a shot that some can only dream about making.
For Northwest forward
Isaiah Gaines, that dream shot became a reality on Monday evening, as the freshman from Pensacola sent up a prayer at the final buzzer of regulation...one that was answered off the backboard and into the net, sending the Rangers home with a stunning 52-49 victory against Itawamba.
The miracle shot capped off a 21-point evening for Gaines, who led all scorers with 16 of his 21 points coming in the second half.
Northwest trailed 39-25 at halftime, but rallied back with a 27-10 scoring effort in the second half. The two teams were tied at 49-49 with less than 30 seconds to go and after a shot in the paint rattled off the rim for Itawamba, Gaines grabbed the rebound and lobbed up the shot with less than a second left on the clock.
Gaines' game-winner provided the exclamation point on what was a rough night of shooting for both teams. The Rangers finished the contest shooting 36 percent from the floor, a narrow margin over Itawamba's 35 percent output, while both teams shot just over 20 percent from three-point range.
Gaines also led the Rangers in rebounds, finishing with eight boards.
Kavonte Tunstall provided six rebounds to go with his nine points on the evening, while
Jaylon Sanders tallied five rebounds off the bench.
Itawamba was led by 14 points from and 11 from Daniel Mayfield. The duo combined for 11 rebounds, while Walter Hamilton led the Indians with seven boards.
With the win, Northwest snapped a two-game losing skid and improved to 13-5 overall and 6-4 in conference play. The Indians dropped to 9-7 on the season and 3-6 in the MACCC.
Next up for the Rangers will be a meeting with Meridian on Thursday, February 3 at Howard Coliseum. The two teams previously met on November 15 in Meridian, where the Eagles took a 78-73 victory against Northwest.
Tipoff for Thursday's contest is scheduled for 6 P.M., with broadcast coverage available on Ranger TV (nwccrangers.com/watch) and Facebook Live.
