POPLARVILLE, Miss. — The Pearl River men’s basketball team got a great effort from start to finish in Tuesday night’s matchup with Northwest, helping the Wildcats defeat the Rangers 74-55.

“You never want to be overconfident, but we saw some things on film that we could take advantage of,” head coach Chris Oney said. “I knew they would try to go zone, but we’ve gotten to the point now where the ball was popping around. We executed really well against the zone.”

FIRST HALF
The Wildcats (11-2 overall; 6-0 MACCC) started off strong with a quick bucket from Dylan Brumfield (Hattiesburg; Oak Grove) who then turned provider, assisting on back-to-back shots from Jaronn Wilkens (Biloxi) to make the score 6-0.

Ankerion Gross (Sardis; North Panola) continued the early barrage from the Wildcats, draining an open 3-pointer and pushing the score to 9-0 to force an early timeout by Northwest (10-4, 3-3).

After a Ranger bucket halted the early run, Jaronn Wilkens scored yet again from inside the paint. The bucket was quickly followed up by a Cameron Brown (Hattiesburg) 3-pointer, blowing things open 14-2 in favor of Pearl River.

With the shot clock winding down, the ball found its way into the hands of Alex Jordan (Hattiesburg) who was forced to shoot from the logo. The 3-point shot sailed through the air and went in to increase the lead to 19-5.

From there, the Wildcats continued to pour it on with a flurry of 3-pointers from Brown and J.D. Allen (Brookhaven; Wesson). Just before the buzzer sounded, Allen drained a shot from beyond the arc to give Pearl River a 40-21 first half lead.

SECOND HALF
The Wildcats again started on the front foot in the second half, getting a quick dunk from Jaronn Wilkens that stretched the Pearl River lead to 42-21.

After a scoreless run by both teams, the Rangers grabbed two points from the free-throw line, forcing a Pearl River timeout.

After a Northwest 3-pointer, the Wildcats went on a huge 12-point run that included a free throw and 3-pointer from Earl Smith (Jackson; Lanier), a jump shot from Brown, two alley-oop slams from Brison Waller (Cleveland, Ohio; Garfield Heights) and a layup from Jariyon Wilkens (Biloxi). The run put the Wildcats ahead even further, 56-28.

Pearl River did not look back, coasting to an impressive 74-55 victory.

PROVIDING A SPARK
Jaronn Wilkens was a force for Pearl River on both ends of the court, tallying 14 points and seven rebounds.

Brown also added 14 points, 12 of which came from beyond the arc.

Allen added 12 points and four rebounds on the night.

Brumfield was a huge playmaker for the Wildcats tallying six points, 11 rebounds, and six assists.

“He’s just so steady,” Oney said. “He does so many things that help us on offense and defense. He did a lot of positive things for us tonight.

UP NEXT
The Wildcats hit the road Thursday to take on Southwest. The game is set to get underway at 6 p.m. and will be livestreamed at Go.SMCCBears.TV.

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