SENATOBIA - Northwest trailed by 11 at halftime against Pearl River in Monday evening's MACCC contest, but outscored the Wildcats by a 44-38 margin in the second half, only to fall by a 79-74 final.

LaMarcus Crawford came off the bench to lead the Rangers with 15 points, and Northwest finished with one of its better offensive performances of the season. However, Northwest tumbled to 6-12 overall and 1-6 in conference play, as Pearl River improved its season record to 18-3 overall and 7-0 in the MACCC.

For the first four minutes of the first half, it seemed as if the Wildcats were well on their way to a blowout victory. Aside from a fast break layup from Ja'Quise Richmond, PRCC scored the first 12 points of the contest and led Northwest, 12-2.

However, the Rangers slowly began to get stops and in turn, the offense began to make shots. Trailing 17-4 with 14:55 left in the opening half, Northwest went on a 10-0 run and closed the gap to three. Colain Brown and Caleb Hunt highlighted the run with a pair of three-pointers.

Pearl River responded with a 13-0 run of its own over the next five minutes, pushing its lead back to 30-14, but the Rangers managed to hang around and pull back within nine late in the first half. Two free throws from Kedrick Osby sent the Wildcats into halftime with the 11-point advantage.

Though PRCC hit the first two baskets of the second half, Northwest responded with an 8-0 run, drawing back within seven. The Rangers came as close as two points multiple times over the next several minutes, but a dunk from Osby at the 10:34 mark seemed to swing the momentum back in favor of the Wildcats.

Soon, Pearl River pulled back ahead by nine and Dylan Sanders' three-pointer at the 5:15 mark made it a double-digit deficit for Northwest. The Rangers weren't done fighting though, and inched back within four points multiple times within the final minute of play.

However, Northwest was simply unable to get the stops it needed on the other end of the floor, and Pearl River knocked down nearly every free throw attempted, as the Rangers were denied victory once again.

Northwest shot 46 percent on the evening, including an impressive 57 percent from the floor in the second half. The Rangers performed better than the Wildcats in overall shooting percentage, as Pearl River made just 38 percent of its shots.

Though the Wildcats made their first 17 free throw attempts, Northwest actually ended the night slightly better than PRCC, finishing 90 percent from the charity stripe, compared to 89 percent for Pearl River. The Rangers also outscored the opposition in the paint, 36-22, and 27-0 in bench points.

Aside from Crawford's 15 points, Caleb Hunt and Keanu Patrick scored 13 and 12 points, respectively. Brown added 11 points, while Dorian Booker pulled down a team-high eight rebounds.

Jamarion Smith netted a double-double for Pearl River, scoring 15 points and 10 rebounds. Sanders also posted 21 points, while Krystian Lewis added 19 points.  Read Full Article