Wolves lose to Southwest in close, overtime contest

SUMMIT, Miss. - The Copiah-Lincoln Community College Wolves bounced back from a 10-point deficit over the final six minutes of regulation on Thursday to knot the game at 69-69 but ultimately fell to Southwest, 77-74, in overtime to move to 5-8, 0-4 on the year. The win improves the Bears to 8-5, 2-2. The Wolves are back in Wesson on Tuesday, January 21 as the team hosts Hinds in Mullen Gymnasium. Fans can keep up with action by watching live at www.colinathletics.com/watch.

"It is always a tough battle with Southwest, but this is like deja-vu of our last two games, I'm just proud of guys for playing so hard. We just have to keep going," said Co-Lin head coach Kenny Bizot. "Our guys are really playing well and hard, we just have secure some loose balls here and there, it's just tough to have games like this three games in a row."

The Bears leaped out to a big lead on Thursday as the lead grew to a game-high 13, 27-14, midway through the first half. The Wolves began to chip away at that lead and cut it to six, 33-27, late in the half, but a brief Southwest scoring burst put the Bears on top by nine, 44-35, at the break.

Like the women's game, the Wolves came out of the break on fire. Co-Lin rattled off a 17-6 run over the first five minutes of the second half to take a two-point, 50-48, lead, the first Co-Lin lead since the opening possession. The Bears responded with a run of their own that put Southwest back in control with a 63-53 advantage with just under seven minutes to play in regulation. Huge baskets in the final minutes from mJe'Kevious Williams and Cameron Woodall put the Wolves back in contention and eventually a one-point, 69-68, lead with just 12 seconds remaining. A late Southwest free throw tied the game and took the contest to an extra frame. In overtime, a pair of Southwest three-pointers proved a difference-maker as the Bears hung on to win. 

Woodall led Co-Lin with 20 points after shooting a blistering 9-for-13 from the floor. Williams had a career night as he added 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting, while Dajon Whitworth poured in 17 points and a team-best eight assists. Lance Madison rounded out the double-digit scorers with 14 points and led the Wolves on the glass with seven rebounds. Spencer Rodgers led Southwest 23 points as he went 7-for-14 from three-point range, including two long balls in overtime. 

The Wolves shot 47 percent (30-of-64) from the floor, 29 percent (6-of-21) from three-point range, and 57 percent (8-of-14) from the free-throw line. The Bears shot 40 percent (26-of-65) from the floor, 39 percent (12-of-31) from downtown, and 68 percent (13-of-19) from the stripe. Southwest outrebound Co-Lin 42 to 37.