Wolves drop home matchup to Meridian, 73-68

WESSON, Miss. – The Copiah-Lincoln Community College Wolves fell to the Meridian Eagles on Monday night 73-68 after a strong showing on sophomore night. The loss drops the Wolves to 11-11 on the year and to 4-9 in division play. Meridian improved to 8-13, 3-10 on the year. Co-Lin's final game of the 2018-2019 season is this Thursday as Co-Lin travels to Jones to take on the Bobcats. Tipoff is set for 7:30 and fans can listen to the game live at colinathletics.com or WMJU 104.3 FM in Brookhaven.

"Tonight was a must win, and we just didn't have that intensity," said head coach Kenny Bizot. "Rebounding is such a big part of the game, and we just getting bring them down, that was the difference in the game…our sophomores and have been big for our program, they are trying to the culture around here."

Meridian took an early lead in the game, but Co-Lin refused to let the Eagles grow lead over the opening minutes of the game as it was tied three times through six minutes. Meridian broke that tie with a quick offensive led by Alvarez Powell as he hit a three and a jumper. Tyler Williams followed with a layup to put the Eagles on top by nine, 26-17. Co-Lin quickly recovered as Darius Kent nailed a three-pointer to limit the damage. Cameron Woodall followed with back-to-back layups and a jumper to give Co-Lin their first lead of the game, 30-28. After a couple more ties, Meridian hit a late layup to take a 40-36 lead into half time.

The second half was much like the first as the game saw six ties and 10 lead changes. With just 5:35 to play Co-Lin took a one-point, 62-61 lead after a Woodall layup. Lance Madison and Xavier Heidelberg followed with points in the paint off turnovers to stretch Co-Lin's lead to five, 66-61, with just 4:08 on the clock. Meridian rattled off some offensive buckets and cut the lead to three, 68-65. Meridian's Iverson Smith followed with a pair of three-pointers that put Meridian up by three, 71-68, with just 46 seconds left in the game, and unfortunately, Co-Lin could not recover.

Miles Daniels led the Wolves with 25 points after going 8-of-13 from the floor and 4-of-7 from beyond the arc. Heidelberg added 12 while Madison scored 11. Woodall rounded out the scorers with 10 points. Damarius Brooks led Co-Lin with five rebounds.

Keontae Trotter led Meridian with 15 points, while Alex Oguinn posted 13 points and 13 rebounds with a team-high six assists.

Co-Lin shot 54 percent (28-of-52) from the floor, 40 percent (6-of-15) from three-point range, and 67 percent (6-of-9) from the free throw line. The Eagles shot 48 percent (26-of-54) from the floor, 36 percent (9-of-25) from downtown, and 80 percent (12-of-15) from the stripe. Co-Lin outrebounded the Eagles 49 to 32.