SENATOBIA - A career-high night from Jordan Johnson still wasn't enough to salvage a victory for Northwest on Monday evening, as Mississippi Gulf Coast defeated the Rangers by an 84-65 final.

A native of Baton Rouge and former Coastal Alabama-North transfer, Johnson scored 24 points with five rebounds, marking his third 20-point performance of the season. Off the bench, Ke'Darius Stampley scored 12 points, marking his highest scoring effort since transferring to Northwest.

With the loss, the Rangers fell to 5-15 overall, 3-8 in the MACCC and also tied their longest losing streak of the season (five games). For Mississippi Gulf Coast, the win was the Bulldogs' first road win of the season, improving MGCCC to 11-12 overall and 5-6 in conference play.

Scoring came early and often for both teams in the opening minutes of the contest, as the Bulldogs never led by more than six through the first seven minutes. However, a cold shooting streak for Northwest allowed MGCCC to go on a 11-1 run over a two-minute span, stretching the deficit to 26-12 for the Rangers.

A pair of free throws from Johnson with 6:54 left in the half helped Northwest work the Bulldogs' lead back to single digits, but back-to-back three-pointers from Donovan Sanders and Jabarie Robinson helped push the lead back to 13 for Mississippi Gulf Coast. Trailing by 17 with 1:14 left in the first half, Northwest got some momentum back from a Jayvian Shaw three-pointer and a fastbreak dunk from Johnson, but the Bulldogs still took a 43-31 lead into halftime.

Northwest picked up right where it left off to open the second half, as a string of layups from Johnson and Marquavous Jones helped the Rangers hang around in a 10-point deficit. After the Bulldogs went back ahead by 11, Jones hit a jumper to work the margin back to nine points, 48-39.

However, the Rangers' momentum came to a grinding halt after that, as MGCCC went on a 10-0 run to take its largest lead of the game at 19 points. From there, the Bulldogs kept the pace, soaring to a 22-point advantage, 66-44, with 10:13 remaining in regulation.

Although Northwest picked up the scoring over the remainder of the game, the Bulldogs kept their tone offensively, remaining ahead by double figures the rest of the way. The closest the Rangers came was at the 3:12 mark of the second half, when a three-pointer from Stampley and a jumper from Jones brought the deficit back down to 13 points, 78-65.

Mississippi Gulf Coast shot 48 percent from the floor and 81 percent from the free throw line, while scoring 42 points in the paint and 21 points off turnovers. Meanwhile, Northwest shot 38 percent on the evening and were out-rebounded 48-31 by the Bulldogs.

Aside from Johnson and Stampley's efforts, Jones also added 11 points for his sixth career game in double figures. Devin Moore also led the Rangers in rebounds with eight, followed by six from Jaylon Sanders.

Sanders led all MGCCC scorers with 20 points, while Idell Walton finished with nine points and a team-high 11 rebounds. Jabarie and Anthony Robinson led the charge off the bench with 28 of the team's 39 reserve points. 

Northwest will now turn its attention to Saturday, February 18, as the Rangers are scheduled to take on Meridian from Holmes Community College in Goodman. The game was originally scheduled for last Thursday, but was postponed due to the lack of officials. The Eagles (15-5, 7-3 MACCC) are coming off Monday's 72-64 triumph against Southwest Mississippi.

Tipoff for Saturday's contest is scheduled for 2 P.M. at Frank Branch Coliseum in Goodman. Coverage details are still pending and will be announced closer to Saturday. Read Full Article