POPLARVILLE – Pearl River jumped out to a 22-point lead in the first half and went on to defeat Jones County Junior College 83-70 here Thursday night at the Marvin R. White Coliseum.
JCJC is now 7-4 overall, 2-2 in the MACJC South Division.
The Wildcats improve to 10-3 overall and are in sole possession of the top spot in the division at 4-0.
Andre Johnson hit two free throws to give the Bobcats a 4-2 lead early, but that would be their final lead of the game. PRCC scored eight straight points and took a 10-4 lead with 15:17 left in the first half when Jamon Franklin scored.
Rickey Holden's basket at 8:11 cut the PRCC led to 20-15. But the Wildcats then put together another 8-0 spurt and took a 28-15 lead when Darrlyn Willis made two free throws with 6:24 left.
Tristin Walley's bucket at 5:42 cut the lead to 28-21, but the Wildcats outscored Jones 19-4 and took a 47-25 lead with 58 seconds left when Tawarren Grant made his fifth 3-pointer of the first half.
The Wildcats led 47-29 at halftime.
But JCJC got back into the game in the second half.
Holden's three-point play got the Bobcats within 57-51 with 11:10 remaining and the Bobcats were down 62-56 with 7:35 left when Maurice Dunlap made a free throw. But that was as close as the Bobcats would get.
PRCC's Teddy Scott scored with 4:51 left to put the Wildcats up 72-62. The lead would never fall below double digits after that.
Bruce Stevens had another "double-double" for JCJC. He scored 12 points and pulled down 16 rebounds. Holden led the Bobcats with 14 points, while Johnson added 13 and Walley had 11.
Cortez Mitchell had 26 for Pearl River, while Wright – a Wichita State signee – added 20 points. Grant added 15 – all on 3-pointers – and William Brown had 11.
The Bobcats were 23-of-61 from the field, including 5-of-21 from 3-point range, for 38 percent. JCJC was 19-of-31 from the free throw line.
Pearl River was 26-of-56 from the floor, including 7-of-20 from the free throw line, for 46 percent. The Wildcats were 24-of-31 from the free throw line.
JCJC outrebounded the Wildcats, 36-34.
The Bobcats travel to Meridian for a 7:30 p.m. game on Tuesday. Pearl River hosts Mississippi Gulf Coast on Tuesday.
 
 
MEN
Thursday's game
Pearl River 83, Jones County 70
JONES COUNTY (7-4, 2-2) – Rickey Holden 14, Andre Johnson 13, Bruce Stevens 12, Tristin Walley 11, Christian Robertson 6, Maurice Dunlap 4, Andrew Riley 3, Zebedee Rice 3, David Davis 2, Albert Goss 2, Xavier Howard 0.
PEARL RIVER (10-3, 4-0) – Cortez Mitchell 26, Darrlyn Willis 20, Tawarren Grant 15, William Brown 11, Teddy Scott 5, Jamond Franklin 2, Jeffrey Spence 2, Jabari Craig 2, Dontellius Ross 0, Eli Arcement 0.
 
Jones County          29  41 – 70
Pearl River               47  36 – 83