Wolves Blast Dolphins

WESSON – The Co-Lin Men's Basketball team hosted Delgado on Thursday, November 14. The Wolves used a dominant show of force on both sides of the court handing the Dolphins their first loss of the season with a 95-60 victory.

"I thought we executed well on both ends in this win," stated Co-Lin head coach David Sanders. "Delgado is a well-coached team who already has wins over teams in our conference this year so to get that win was huge for us."

The opening minutes of the first half saw the Wolves and Dolphins match scoring outputs with 10 points each as the game was tied at 10-10 with 15:05 left on the clock. The Wolves then took control of the game with a 17-1 scoring run to take a 27-11 lead with 9:51 left to play in the first half. The Dolphins responded with a 13-11 scoring run, but the Wolves held the lead at 38-24 with 4:41 remaining. The Dolphins closed out the first half with a 13-10 scoring run, but the Wolves lead held a 48-37 as the teams entered the locker rooms at halftime.

The Wolves opened the second half with 13 unanswered points as they pushed their lead to 61-37 with 14:36 left on the clock. The teams matched scoring totals with ten points each as the Wolves lead stood at 71-47 with 9:01 remaining. The Wolves used an 18-7 scoring run to push their lead to 89-54 with 4:01 left in the game. The teams then scored six points each to close out the game as the Wolves secured the 95-60 victory over the Dolphins.

The Wolves had two players set new career highs in points as Deven Bates (Jackson) led all scorers with 30 points along with four rebounds and three steals while Fred Gray, Jr., (Belzoni) 21 points behind a 6-for-8 performance at the three-points line with two rebounds and one steal. Prince Ojukwu (Etobicoke, Ontario) had ten points with four rebounds, two assists, and one steal.

"Deven Bates carried us offensively and Fred Gray, Jr., caught fire in the second half," added Sanders. "Keisean Shields and Chris Stephens, Jr. (Byram) led us defensively throughout the game. This win truly was a team effort."

Jayden Jackson (Camden) had eight points, Keisean Shields (Atoka, OK) had seven points, while Javian Watkins (Jackson) had six points. Dakotah Hillard (Hazlehurst) and Corey Brown (Roxie) had four points each while Dawson Knox (Brookhaven) and Zach Thompson (Hattiesburg) had two points apiece with Brick Nkugwa (Kampala, Uganda) had one point to round out the scoring for the Wolves. Watkins led the team in assists with seven, Shields led in steals with seven, while Hillard and Jackson shared the team lead in rebounds with seven each.

Co-Lin is now 3-4 overall and will return to action on the road at Phillips Community College on Monday, November 18. Tip-off between the Wolves and the Ridge Runners is set for 7:30 p.m., in Arkansas.