Bulldogs fall in MACJC State Tournament opener, 60-48
ELLISVILLE --- The Holmes Community College Bulldogs held as much as a nine-point lead in the second half but couldn't hang on as the Pearl River Community College Wildcats stormed back in the final six minutes for a 60-48 win knocking the Bulldogs out the MACJC State Tournament here today at Jones College.
With the loss, the Bulldogs fell to 15-9 overall. Holmes will face East Mississippi in the opening round of the Region XXIII on Wednesday at Mississippi College at 3 p.m. You can watch the game live at holmesccmedia.com/cardinal-channel.
The Bulldogs got on the scoreboard first in the game on a Winford Ross layup to go up 2-0. The Bulldogs then went up 5-2 on a three-pointer from Javion Jordan with 16:29 left in the first half. Ross hit a free throw with 15:30 to increase the lead to four. Czar Perry gave Holmes an 8-5 lead with 12:14 to play in the first half.
The Wildcats took a 10-8 lead on a three-pointer with 11:25 left in the half before Ross tied the game at 10 with 11 minutes left in the half on two free throws. Pearl River took the lead with 10:11 to play and held the lead until 6:53 to play when Josiah Lewis made a free throw tying the game at 16. Holmes went up 17-16 on a free throw from Perry with 6:24 to play in the half before Pearl River retook the lead at 19-17 with 5:55 to play in the half on a three-pointer. Pearl River led the remaining five minutes of the first half and led 26-22 at halftime.
Pearl River led until the 17:27 mark of the second half when Perry hit two free throws tying the game at 28. Kassim Nicholson hit two free throws with 16:58 to play in the game to put Holmes up 30-28. Holmes increased the lead to nine points, 37-28, with 13:18 left when Jordan hit a layup. The lead remained at nine, 39-30, with 12:40 to play when Nicholson nailed a jumper. Another Nicholson bucket with 11:47 kept the lead at nine, 41-32.
The Wildcats tied the game at 43 with 7:34 left in the game. They took a 46-43 lead with 5:59 left in the game on a three-pointer. They increased the lead to as much as 13 in the final minute of the game.
Perry led the Bulldogs with 12 points while Winford Ross had 11. Javion Jordan had nine points while Kassim Nicholson had eight. Jordan had eight rebounds while Nicholson had seven.