Wolves battle on sophomore night versus Jones

WESSON, Miss. - In the final contest of the 2019-2020 season, the Wolves of Copiah-Lincoln Community College left everything on the floor but ultimately fell to Jones College, 89-80. The loss moves the Wolves to 7-16, 2-12 on the year and improves Jones to 17-5, 9-5. The game closed out a year of wild finishes that saw four overtimes, and 10 games decided by four points or less. 

"I'm so proud of our guys, record-wise it has been an awful year, but we have a group of men that stuck together, played hard, and competed in every game, it just wasn't meant to be for whatever reason," said Co-Lin head coach Kenny Bizot. "Our ability to stay with it and keep our heads up shows how tough and how much character this team has. We never lost these guys, they stayed together and have a lot of respect for each other. Every one of our sophomore players will graduate and that is something that we are really proud of."

The Bobcats quickly built a 10-point lead early in the first half, 18-8, but sparked by a three-pointer from freshman Demarcus Ellzey the Wolves began clawing back. A 12-1 run that saw shots from Dayquan Perkins, solid free throw shooting from Dajon Whitworth, and another deep ball from Ellzey, not only erased Jones' lead but put the Wolves up by one, 20-19, with 10:25 remaining in the half. The remainder of the half was back-and-forth as the lead traded hands six times and saw five ties. Going into the locker rooms, the game was knotted at 41-41. 

In the second, Co-Lin came out with back-to-back layups from Cameron Woodall and another three-ball from Ellzey that put Co-Lin up by four, 50-46. Jones bounced back with two shots from John Rawls to re-tie the game. Down the stretch, Tyree Lomax checked into the game for the Wolves and netted 10 straight points, keeping the Wolves in the contest as the Bobcats continued to find the rim on the other end. With just under seven minutes remaining, the game was tied for the 11th time, at 72-72. Jones pulled away with a 10-1 run led by Shardarrion Allen, Zachariah Malone, and Kenneth Rogers. the scoring burst put the Bobcats up 82-73. The Wolves refused to give in as Ellzey hit another three followed by a big basket from Lance Madison. Unfortunately, Ladarius Anderson hit a three-pointer with less than a minute to play to keep the Wolves at bay. The Bobcats went on to an 89-80 win. 

Ellzey led the Wolves in the scoring column with 18 points off the bench. The freshman was 6-of-9 from three-point range. Perkins also had a strong game off the bench with 14 points, while Lomax finished with 10. Perkins, Woodall, Madison, and TJ Monroe led the team on the glass with four rebounds each. Dajon Whitworth led the Wolves with seven assists, while JD Allen posted three blocks. 

Allen led Jones with 26 points, while Rogers poured in 20. Tradavis Thompson rounded out the top scorers for the Bobcats with 14 points. Allen and Malone both finished with team-high 10 rebounds. 

The Wolves shot 48 percent (28-of-59) from the floor, 52 percent (12-of-23) from three-point range, and 63 percent (12-of-19) from the free-throw line. The Bobcats shot 52 percent (34-of-66) from the floor, 45 percent (9-of-20) from downtown, and 67 percent (12-of-18) from the stripe. Jones outrebounded Co-Lin 44 to 27.