CLARKSDALE – The Northwest Mississippi Community College men's basketball team (2-1) picked up their second win in a row on Tuesday evening, downing the Coahoma Community College Tigers (1-1) 91-71 at The Pinnacle thanks to a strong second-half performance, paced by excellent three-point shooting and strong defense.
The game opened with a flurry of points from the Rangers, who built a 7-2 lead through the first three minutes, but it didn't hold for as long as they would have hoped. The Tigers heated up from beyond the three-point line, found their way to multiple backdoor cuts, and went on a 15-2 run of their own to take control of the game.
By the time the under-eight media timeout arrived, they had extended the lead to double figures, and at one point had pushed the advantage to a game-high 14 points at 37-23.
The final four minutes were critical for the Rangers, and they used a run of their own to trim the gap, marching back to within just two points at the horn and nearly tying the game on Chancellor Terry breakaway steal, but his buzzer-beater just kicked off the rim to leave the Rangers down 42-40 going into the locker room.
It took nearly no time at all for the Rangers to finish the comeback in the second half, scoring the opening two baskets on the way to claiming the lead at 44-42. The Tigers tied the game at 44, but a 9-0 run from Northwest would give them the lead for good, and it would grow to double figures on a pair of free throws by Demetrius Duffy.
A steady growth would continue over the final 10 minutes of the game, peaking on a final three on the last possession by Terry, capping the scoring at a season-best 91 points for the Rangers on the way to a 20-point win on the road.
Northwest was paced by five players in double figures, led by 19 points from Chance Terry, who added a team-best four assists and two steals to his numbers.
Isaiah Thomas finished with 14 points, five rebounds, and a pair of blocks. Haven Terry, Conlin Anderson, and Duffy all picked up 12-point efforts, and Ladarius Brown had eight to cap off the leaders for Northwest.
As a team, the Rangers shot 54 percent from the field, and a scorching 44 percent from beyond the three-point line, going 11-25. The team picked up 30 rebounds, including 11 on the offensive glass, and had 10 steals in the game coming from eight different players, most of which came in the second half.
Northwest will keep their work on the road going into a trip to Dyersburg State Community College on Saturday, with tipoff scheduled for 2 p.m. in Dyersburg, Tennessee. After that, the Rangers will come home for the first time this season for a game against Southeast Arkansas Community College on Friday, November 13th.
Keep up with the full Northwest men's basketball schedule as well as news and updates at nwccrangers.com or by following along on Ranger social media accounts.
