Box Score PERKINSTON - Despite a night that featured four Northwest players in double figures, the Rangers were unable to fully overcome a first half deficit, falling on the road at Mississippi Gulf Coast on Monday evening, 99-87.
Northwest dropped to 13-6 with the loss and 6-5 against MACCC competition, while the Bulldogs bolstered their record to 15-5 on the season and 7-4 in conference play.
Mississippi Gulf Coast jumped out ahead in the first half and held a 48-42 lead at the halftime break, before stretching that lead to 87-69 with six minutes left in regulation. From there, the Rangers scraped away at the deficit with a 13-0 run to close the gap to 87-82 with under three minutes remaining.
However, the Rangers' rally was not quite enough to complete the comeback, as the Bulldogs responded with an 8-0 run of their own to put the game away.
Ethan Pickett led Northwest with 18 points and seven rebounds on the evening, while
Joseph Cooper tallied 14 points to go with eight assists and seven rebounds. Additionally,
Jaylon Sanders led the charge off the bench, finishing with 12 points.
Quen Kyles added 10 points for the Rangers and
Isaiah Gaines pulled down a team-high 11 rebounds, despite being limited to just eight points.
Northwest shot 42 percent from the floor, but finished 8-of-14 from the free throw line for a 57 percent total. Meanwhile, the Bulldogs shot 50 percent from the floor and 68 percent from the charity stripe.
MGCCC's Melvion Flanagan led all scorers with 25 points and seven assists, while Carr Thiam added 18 points. Three other Bulldogs finished with scoring totals in double figures, along with a team-leading 13 rebounds from Lee Flenor.
With less than two weeks remaining in the regular season, Northwest now sits in a tie for seventh place with Jones College. The Rangers have three conference games left in the regular season, starting with next Monday's home battle against Southwest Mississippi. Tipoff for that contest is slated for 6 P.M. with broadcast coverage available on Ranger TV (nwccrangers.com/watch) and Facebook Live.
