ELLISVILLE – Pearl River held a off a late flurry and defeated Jones County 85-82 here Monday night at A.B. Howard Gymnasium.
The loss snapped a six-game winning streak for the Bobcats.
JCJC is now 13-5 overall, while Pearl River is 14-6. The teams are tied for the top spot in the MACJC South Division at 8-3, but the Wildcats own the tiebreaker because they swept the season's series. Pearl River beat the Bobcats 83-70 last month in Poplarville.
The Wildcats took an 82-75 lead with 38.3 seconds left when William Brown made two free throws. JCJC's Rickey Holden answered with two free throws with 27.7 seconds left to make it 82-77.
After a Pearl River turnover, the Bobcats got the ball to Tristin Walley, who made a 3-pointer from the top of the key to make it 82-80 with 7.9 seconds left.
The Wildcats inbounded the ball to Cortez Mitchell, who was fouled with 6.7 seconds remaining. Mitchell made one free throw to give PRCC an 83-80 lead.
After a timeout, the Bobcats inbounded the ball to Maurice Dunlap, who was deliberately fouled. He made both free throws to make it 83-82 with 4.0 seconds to play.
The Wildcats got the ball inbounds to Darryln Willis, who was quickly fouled with 2.6 seconds to play. He hit both free throws to make it 85-82.
JCJC threw the ball in and it was knocked out of bounds near midcourt with 1.2 seconds to play.
The Bobcats got the ball in to Bruce Stevens, who got off a shot from over 30-feet away at the buzzer. But the shot was long and the Wildcats secured the victory.
JCJC had the edge early and took an 18-11 lead with 12:31 left in the first half on a Stevens tip-in. PRCC would come back and take a 32-28 lead with 6:14 to play when Mitchell scored.
A Stevens basket got the Bobcats within 34-33 with 5:24 left in the first half. However, the Wildcats outscored JCJC 14-6 and took a 48-39 lead at halftime.
But the Bobcats came back and would go up 59-58 with 9:52 remaining when Dunlap made two free throws. PRCC responded with seven straight points and went up 65-59 with 8:18 left on a Willis basket.
But the Bobcat went on their own 7-0 run and took their final lead of the game at 66-65 with 6:34 to play on an Andre Johnson 3-pointer. William Brown answered with a 3-pointer for the Wildcats and Holden hit two free throws for the Bobcats to tie the game at 68-68 with 5:12 remaining.
But Mitchell's putback with 4:41 left put the Wildcats ahead for good at 70-68.
Stevens led the Bobcats with 18 points. Holden added 15, while Walley and David Davis had 11 each.
Mitchell had 23 for the Wildcats, while Brown had 21 and Willis, who has signed with Wichita State, added 20.
JCJC entertains Meridian at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday. The game will air on www.jcjc.tv.
Pearl River travels to Mississippi Gulf Coast on Thursday.
 
MEN
Monday's Game
Ellisville
A.B. Howard Gymnasium
Pearl River 85, Jones County 82
PEARL RIVER (14-6, 8-3) – Cortez Mitchell 23, William Brown 21, Darrlyn Willis 20, Teddy Scott 8, Dontellius Ross 7, Tawarren Grant 6.
JONES COUNTY (13-5, 8-3) – Bruce Stevens 18, Rickey Holden 15, Tristin Walley 11, David Davis 11, Maurice Dunlap 9, Andre Johnson 8, Andrew Riley 5, Christian Robertson 5, Zebedee Rice 0, Albert Goss 0, Emetric Fells 0.
Pearl River               48 37 – 85
Jones County          39 43 – 82