Wolves Squeak Past Cardinals

WESSON – The Co-Lin Men's Basketball team continued their season opening homestand as they hosted Gadsden State on Monday, November 3. The Wolves used a late second half surge to earn an 88-87 victory over the Cardinals.

The Wolves opened the game with a 9-2 scoring run to hold a lead by that margin with 16:31 left to play in the first half. The Wolves continued to flex their muscles early as they went on an 11-9 scoring run to push the lead to 20-11 with 12:02 on the clock. The Cardinals responded with a 12-10 scoring run to cut the Wolves lead down to 30-23 with 7:08 remaining in the first half. The Cardinals then used a 13-6 scoring run to tie the game at 36-36 with 2:51 left to play. The Cardinals then finished the half with a 9-6 scoring run to take a 45-42 lead over the Wolves at halftime.

The Wolves opened the second half with a quick 5-2 scoring run to tie the game at 47-47 with 16:38 left to play. Both teams then matched scoring totals with 11 points to keep the game tied at 58-58 with 12:39 remaining in the second half. The Cardinals then used a 14-7 scoring run to take a 72-65 lead with 7:17 left on the clock. The Wolves responded with a 9-0 scoring run to retake the lead at 74-72 with just over six minutes of play remaining. The Cardinals responded with an 11-9 scoring run to tie the game at 83-83 with 2:14 left in the game. The teams then traded baskets and leads in the final minutes of the game, but the Wolves gained the 88-87 lead as LeBron Deal (Monroe, Louisiana) sunk a jump shot with 31 seconds. The Cardinals then looked to retake the lead, but Caleb Crozier (Yazoo City) blocked the shot to maintain the lead. After the Wolves were called for a travel, the Cardinals had one final heave to try and win the game, but the shot was no good giving the Wolves the 88-87 win.

Tristian Lucas (Pearl) led the Wolves with 22 points, two rebounds, two assists, and one steal while LeBron Deal added 20 points with three assists. Tyrell Bowles (Springdale, Maryland) had a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds along with five blocks while Caleb Crozier and Dylan Creggett (DeSoto, Texas) had nine points each with Crozier adding six rebounds, two assists, two steals, and one block while Creggett added four rebound, two assists and one steal to his night. Moustapha Salekh (Ngekoh, Senegal) had eight points with four rebounds and one block while Koie Williams (Philadelphia) had six points to round out the scoring for the Wolves.

Co-Lin improved to 2-0 with the win after beating William Carey JV, 100-43, to open the season on Friday, October 31 and will be back in action hosting East Central on Thursday, November 6. Tip-off between the Warriors and Wolves is set for 7:30 p.m., at Mullen Gym in Wesson.