GOODMAN, Miss. — The Pearl River men's basketball team had its first slip-up of MACCC play Monday night at Holmes, falling 77-71 to the Bulldogs.
"They made big shots when they needed to," head coach Chris Oney said. "We got up by six twice in the second half, and they made big shots. We just couldn't expand the lead. We also gave up too many offensive rebounds. That just can't happen on the road in a tough game like that."
The Wildcats now enter a tie for first place in the MACCC with rival Jones College. The Bobcats will travel down to Marvin R. White Coliseum on Thursday. Tipoff is at 7:30 p.m.
"Everything we're chasing is still in front of us despite tonight's result," Oney said. "We have a Jones team that we are tied with coming into our gym on Thursday. We have to put tonight behind us and get ready for that one. I think our guys will be excited for the opportunity to compete again."
Pearl River (21-4 overall; 10-1 MACCC) was the victim of a slow start against Holmes (18-5; 6-4) as the Wildcats turned it over a couple of times, and the Bulldogs took a 6-4 lead.
PRCC quickly corrected things as it got hot and rattled off 14 consecutive points to take a commanding lead. PRCC took its first lead on a corner 3-pointer off the hands of Mason Lewis (Stockbridge, Ga.; Woodland), 9-6. On the following offensive possession, Zahir Gutierrez (Olive Branch) heaved up a floater that fell through. When the run ended, PRCC was ahead 18-6.
Pearl River went cold from the floor after taking the big lead, allowing Holmes to begin climbing back into the contest. The Bulldogs rapidly decreased their deficit and trailed by just three points at 20-17.
The Wildcats pushed forward to take a seven-point advantage. Jayden Sampson (Cleveland; Cleveland Central) got a reverse layup to fall, and Kedrick Osby (Moss Point) added a layup of his own, 24-17.
Even though PRCC regained some momentum, HCC kept fighting and only trailed by three points at the midway point, 32-29.
Holmes fought back to tie things up twice in the second half at 34-34 and 37-37. The Wildcats snatched the lead back and maintained control for a while before losing the lead with just over seven minutes left.
Despite PRCC's best efforts and some big-time plays down the stretch from Joah Chappelle (Atlanta, Ga.; Dutchtown) and Krystian Lewis (Monroe, La.; Wossman), Holmes shot its free throws well down the stretch to win the contest 77-71.
LEADING THE WAY
Chappelle finished with a team-high 18 points. He also tallied six rebounds, four assists and three blocks. Lewis followed him with 15 points, tacking on two rebounds.
Osby got in foul trouble but still finished in double-digits with 13 points. Sampson rounded out the Wildcats in double figures with 10 points.
TUNE IN
All home Pearl River basketball games are livestreamed for free at PRCCMedia.com/Gold. Fans with Roku, Amazon Fire or Apple TV devices can also watch the Wildcat broadcasts by downloading the "Pearl River CC" channel from their app stores.
Games will also be available over the air in Pearl River County by tuning into 1320-AM and 106.9 FM. The radio broadcast is also available at WRJWRadio.com and by downloading the WRJW app.
For the latest on Pearl River Community College athletics, follow us on X (@PRCCAthletics) and Facebook (PRCCAthletics).