SENATOBIA - Five players scored in double figures for Coahoma and two finished with double-doubles, as Northwest fell to the Tigers, 80-62, in Thursday evening's non-conference contest.
Terry Joyner and
Jaylon Sanders led the Rangers in scoring with 12 and 10 points, respectively, but it wasn't enough to withstand a 53% second half shooting effort from the Tigers. With the loss, Northwest saw its losing skid extend to four games, falling to 1-4 on the season.
For the first five minutes of the game, Northwest seemingly had the momentum, scoring the game's first basket on a layup from Joyner, who would go on to score the first six points for the Rangers. Northwest twice led by four points, but the Rangers saw their 8-4 lead turn into an 8-0 run from the Tigers, flipping the script to a 12-8 Coahoma lead. The run was capped off by a strong fastbreak dunk from Kei Johnson off a steal and assist from Dontae Prescott.
From there, things went from bad to worse for the Rangers, as Coahoma quickly extended its lead to 11 points with 8:41 remaining in the first half. The Tigers continued to lead by double digits for the remainder of the half and took their largest lead of 15 points off a pair of Jo Perez free throws with 0.2 seconds left, sending Northwest to the locker room down 40-25.
Less than two minutes into the second half, Amarion Hoggan's three-point basket sent Coahoma's lead to 21 points and Kavan Wooten followed up moments later with a layup, pushing the Rangers into their largest deficit of 25 points just four minutes into the half. A pair of three-point buckets from Joseph Cooper and Darren Davis helped bring the deficit under 20 points, but Coahoma never relinquished its double-digit lead.
Neither team shot particularly well in the first half, but Coahoma saw its field goal percentage increase from 38% to 53%, while Northwest went from 25% to 41%. The Rangers were also outscored 42-22 in the paint and 22-14 off the bench, while the Tigers also out-rebounded Northwest by a 58-36 margin.
In addition to the double figures from Joyner and Sanders, Northwest also got nine points from Darren Davis and Devin Moore. Cooper and Jayvian Shaw were held to eight points, while Davis led the way in rebounds with seven.
O'Zhell Jackson and Kei Johnson led the Tigers in points, as both players recorded double-double performances. Jackson totaled 15 points and 10 rebounds to go with seven assists, while Johnson finished with 14 points and 10 boards. Jaqai Murray added 14 points of his own, while Prescott finished with 11 and Ben Galmore added 12 off the bench.
Northwest will aim to get back in the win column on Monday, November 14 against East Mississippi. Tipoff is set for 6 P.M. at Howard Coliseum, with broadcast coverage available on Ranger TV (nwccrangers.com/watch) and Action News 5 Plus.
