SENATOBIA – The Northwest Mississippi Community College men's basketball team overcame a slow start in the first half to build a two-point lead at the break but ran into a rough patch in the second half against the Holmes Community College Bulldogs on Monday night, falling 104-94 at Howard Coliseum.
"I thought we had a great game plan and I thought we did a really good job, but we missed 30 three's and that is the game," Head Coach John Redman said. "But I'm really proud of our guys. We kept fighting and we are getting better and better and they are buying in to what we are doing."
Both teams got off to a slow start as the Rangers and Bulldogs only combined for 5 points in the opening five minutes before Northwest closed the early gap to 4-3 with 15:55 to go in the first half. Holmes would go on a 10-0 run to take a 14-3 lead which was only stopped by a three from LaMarcus Crawford to slow the momentum down.
That was the key to an 11-2 run for the Rangers which would tie the game at 16 all and force a timeout from the Bulldogs with 10 minutes to go in the half and from there it was a neck-and-neck first half with both teams getting off to the races, combining for 64 points the rest of the opening half on the way to a 49-47 lead for Northwest.
While the Rangers led at the end of the half, that lead was their first of the game after Holmes was able to fight off ties three times and even build the lead to as much as six on three occasions.
Steals late in the half helped to power a 6-2 run and layups from Crawford, who finished the half going 7-7 from the field for a team high 15 points, and Houston Cunningham would earn the halftime advantage for NWCC at 49-47.
"LaMarcus was awesome. We've been working on where he fits in and we meet all the time and I'm really proud of how he responded today. He could be that every day," Redman said.
In the first four minutes of the second half, the Ranger men were able to increase that lead to 64-55 as it looked like they were on the way to their third straight win and sixth at home, but Holmes, who entered the game at 7-1, went on a surge of offense that would tie the game at 66 with 13 minutes left the game.
Ties followed at 68, 70, and 74 and the first lead of the second half for Holmes came with just over nine minutes to go when they pulled ahead on an 8-0 run to go up 82-74 thanks to several fast-break baskets.
The Rangers rallied to close the gap to just four points multiple times down the stretch, but every run had an answer, and the lead eventually was pushed to double digits with four minutes to go in the game.
Holmes closed out the win 104-94 as the Rangers saw their record drop to 7-4 in just their second home loss of the season.
Crawford was the leading scorer for Northwest in the game with 19 points, although he was limited to just 1-4 from the field in the second half. He was also just two rebounds shy of a double-double, leading Northwest in the game with eight.
Four other Northwest players had double figures on the night including 17 from Chancellor Terry, 16 from Ladarrius Brown, 11 from Dakota Morris, and 10 from Demetrius Duffy.
While the Rangers won the turnover battle, only giving it up 11 times and forcing 20, including 14 off of steals, they wouldn't fare well in the rebounding battle, allowing 67 to the Bulldogs who had 19 offensive boards. Holmes also tallied 27 assists in the game, led by nine from Emajai Horton who nearly had a triple double, adding eleven points and thirteen rebounds.
It was a tough night shooting for NWCC, only making 18.8 percent of their shots from deep and just 57.6 percent of their free throws. Northwest also only had eleven assists on the night which was one of their lowest totals on the year.
"We have to have more than eleven assists," Redman said. "When the ball moves, the scoreboard moves and I want a lot of assists, and that's why we got beat tonight."
Northwest has the chance to still bounce back before the break with a win as they will feature a pair of games on their schedule before concluding the 2025 portion. Saturday holds a trip to Tennessee where they will face Dyersburg State Community College at 4:00 pm before returning home to close the schedule with a game against Meridian Community College at Howard Coliseum.
Streaming information and more on the full Ranger schedule can be found at nwccrangers.com or by following Northwest athletics social media accounts.
