Bulldogs knock off No. 11/No. 1 seed Pearl River Wildcats to advance to Region XXIII final

CLINTON --- Sophomore guard Brandon Weatherspoon hit a huge three-pointer with .37.8 left here tonight to give the Holmes Community College Bulldogs the win over the No. 1 seed and No. 11 nationally ranked Pearl River Wildcats to make the finals tomorrow night vs. the Northeast Mississippi Community College Tigers.

The Bulldogs improve to 14-3 overall. Northeast, 15-3 overall, advanced to the finals after knocking off Hinds Community College, 78-68, in the other semifinal. You can watch the game live at holmesccmedia.com/white-channel.

Tyler Talley got the Bulldogs on the board in the first minute with a three-pointer. Holmes went 5-2 after a bucket from Ahmad Anthony with 18:25 left in the first half. After a short lead for Pearl River, the Bulldogs retook the lead and led 12-6 with 15:20 left in the first half after a three-pointer from Kaleb Higgins.

Pearl River took a lead with 9:50 left on a three-pointer. The teams swapped leads, and Pearl River held a six-point lead with 6:40 to play in the half. Darrius Clark and Higgins each sunk three-pointers to tie the game at 22 with 4:55 to play in the half. The teams went back and forth until Pearl River went up 34-29 with 12 seconds to go. Halftime was Pearl River leading 34-29.

Weatherspoon hit a three-pointer with 15:45 left in the game to tie the game at 38. Pearl River then led 44-40 with 14:04 left. Asa Williams hit a bucket with 12:56 left to tie the game at 46. With the game tied at 48, Higgins and Williams each drained three-pointers to put the Bulldogs up 54-48 with 7:50 to go.

The Bulldogs led until Pearl River hit back to back three-pointers and a free throw to go up 58-56 with 2:37. Higgins then hit a two-point bucket to tie the game at 58 with 2:18 to go before Weatherspoon hit his big shot in the last 35 seconds to secure the win for the Bulldogs.

Higgins finished the game with 26 points including three three-pointers and 9-of-9 from the free throw line. Clark finished with nine points. Olanrewaju Olayinka and Higgins each finished with six rebounds.

For the game, the Bulldogs shot 41.2 percent from the floor (21-of-51), 40 percent from the three-point line (8-of-20) and 91.7 percent from the free throw line (11-of-12).