Wolves Steamroll Rangers for Fourth Straight Win

WESSON – The Co-Lin Men's Basketball team returned to conference play by hosting Northwest Mississippi on Monday, January 22. The Wolves never trailed the Rangers en route to a 103-70 win.

"This game was a total team effort," stated Co-Lin head coach David Sanders. "The whole team contributed to this win and we were able to get some much needed bench production."

The Wolves took a quick lead with back-to-back layups by Emmanuel James (Nigeria) and Ismail Rashid (Jackson) on their first two possessions of the game. Those baskets were part of a 15-8 scoring run for the Wolves as the lead stood at that mark with less than 15 minutes of play left in the first half. The Rangers cut the lead down to 15-12 with a quick 4-0 scoring run; however, the Wolves responded with a 15-2 scoring run increasing their lead to 30-14 with just under nine minutes remaining.

The Wolves continued to flex their muscles in the first half as they went on a 15-1 scoring run pushing their lead to 45-25 with just over three minutes of play left. The Rangers looked to gain some momentum by closing out the first half with a 5-4 scoring, but Avaughn Johnson (Jackson) seized all the momentum back for the Wolves as he nailed a buzzer-beating three point shot to give the Wolves a 52-30 lead going to the locker rooms at halftime.

The Wolves continued to stifle the Rangers as they opened the second half on an 11-3 scoring run and growing their lead to 63-33 with 17 minutes left. The two teams then matched scoring outputs over the next minutes of play as both added 16 to their totals, but the Wolves maintained their 30-point lead at 79-49 with under 10 minutes to play. The Wolves closed out the second half outscoring the Rangers, 24-11, to seal the 103-70 victory.

The Wolves had four players in double-digit scoring figures as Ismail Rashid led all scorers and tied his career high with 19 points paired with three rebounds, and one assist while Courterius Scott (Jackson) had 15 points with one rebound and three assists. Devin Carter (Jackson) had 13 points with three rebounds and two assists while Emmanuel James narrowly missed a double-double with 12 points and eight rebounds along with one assist and two blocks.

Jayden Jackson (Camden) had eight points and Avaughn Johnson had seven points while Jamarion Smith (Magnolia), Trevon Taylor (Jackson), and Antonio Oatis (Hattiesburg) had six points apiece. Kaison Saunders (Olive Branch) and Corey Brown (Roxie) had four points each, Will Grayson (Yazoo City) had two points, and Dakota Hillard (Hazlehurst) had one point to round out the scoring for the Wolves.

"Ismail Rashid had one of his best scoring games of the season and I thought Will Grayson came in and really started the run that helped us pull away from the Rangers early in the game," added Sanders. "Wins are always tough to come by in our conference, but I felt that we played well in all phases of the game in this one."

Co-Lin improves to 10-4 overall, 2-0 in MACCC play and will return to action on the road against Southwest Mississippi on Thursday, January 25. Tip-off between the Wolves and the Bears is set for 7:30 p.m., in Summit.