BAY MINETTE, AL – For the second game in a row, the Northwest Mississippi Community College men's basketball team (5-2) pulled some late heroics on the way to a 113-110 win over Coastal Alabama – South (2-6) to open the Coastal Alabama Classic on Thursday night.

"Our guys were unbelievable last night from top to bottom," Head Coach John Redman said. "You have to give credit to Coastal South because they played a heck of a ball game. We were very fortunate to come out on top."

The opening half of play was a quick pace as is typical with the 2025 version of Northwest men's basketball and the Wolves brought the same tempo to the game, pressing full court on defense and running quick sets on offense.  

Opening lead changes were swapped three times before Coastal was able to break away thanks to a 7-2 run for a 23-16 lead going into the second media timeout.

The Rangers trimmed the lead down to as little as two on a three by Dakota Morris, who became a go-to for the offense late in the first half, making his final six baskets on the way to a 15-point first half to lead the team in scoring.

Unfortunately for Northwest, the turnover bug hit after closing the gap to two, and Coastal was able to run off a burst of eight unanswered points as part of a 14-2 run, building the lead to 44-32 for a game high lead of twelve.

Northwest heated up themselves as they clawed back with a massive run of their own, picking up some very impressive play inside from Demetrius Duffy who was a rock inside during the opening 20 minutes on his way to 14 points in the first half. The burst cut the deficit to 46-45 but Northwest came just shy of taking the lead into the locker room when the Wolves hit several key baskets to retain the advantage at 55-49 at the half.

"It reminded me of our early preseason practice games where both teams press and trap each other all over the court," Redman said of the tempo and intensity of the opening frame.

The Rangers came out fast in the opening minutes of the second half, attacking inside and extending their press all the way to the baseline on inbounds to force several turnovers while picking up back-to-back and ones from Houston Cunningham and Duffy to tie the game at 65 and then a three from Morris would give the Rangers their first lead since it was 7-6 in the opening minutes.

That 9-0 run was backed up over the next ten minutes of play which saw Northwest extend the lead to as high as 85-77, but Coastal, had a few more bursts in them, and going into the under-eight media timeout had closed the gap back to 92-90. With 6:44 to go, they would tie the game at 95 and shortly after the Rangers eclipsed the century mark with five minutes to go, the Wolves would follow them there with a go-ahead basket with 4:24 left in the game. The lead changed hands again on both of the ensuing possessions but Coastal seemed like they were the ones who were set to have the final momentum swings when they pushed the lead to 109-106 with just 48 seconds to go.

A made layup from Chancellor Terry kept it at a one point game and a missed free throw kept the lead at just two when the Rangers got the ball to Josiah Nelson on the win with a look a three and the redshirt-freshman from Olive Branch hit the shot while being fouled with 18 seconds remaining to put the lead back in the hands of Northwest.

Nelson wouldn't make the free throws, but Coastal also had a case of the blunders, missing a pair of free throws of their own after a Ranger foul on the inbound, and after another two makes at the line, Northwest forced the Wolves into a hurried three at the end which was off the right side of the rim as the buzzer sounded.

The second half rally was powered by nine three-pointers from Northwest, three of which came from Nelson on his way to eleven points in the game, all of which came in the second half. Morris led the Rangers in scoring with a 22-point game and was followed by Duffy who was 9-11 from the field on his way to a 21-point game. Duffy added another double-double to his season tally with 12 rebounds. Terry would also finish with 20 points in the game to close out the scorers who eclipsed 20 in the game.

Also picking up double digits was LaMarcus Crawford who had 11 points.

Four Rangers had four assists on another strong night passing the ball, as they talled 24 assists just one game after having a season best 26 assists in the thrilling win over ASU Mid-South on Tuesday night. Nelson also added four steals to his game as the team picked up 15 as a group.

The turnaround is a quick one for Northwest with the two-day tournament closing for them against Bishop State Community College (3-4) on Friday afternoon at 1:30 pm. The game will not be streamed, but you can follow for updates on Ranger social media.