ELLISVILLE – Jones College battled to the end, but came up short versus undefeated and No. 5 Pearl River.
 
The Wildcats edged the Bobcats, 59-55, here Monday night at A.B. Howard Gymnasium.
 
Pearl River led 31-27 at halftime, but Jones would come back to lead 45-42 midway through the second half. Jones led 47-45 with just under eight minutes to play when leading scorer SharDarrion Allen (Raymond) fouled out. The Wildcats sank both free throws to tie the score.
 
The Bobcats trailed 57-55 and had a chance to tie with 16 seconds remaining, but Pearl River came up with a blocked shot. PRCC's Tae Hardy made both free throws with 3.5 seconds left to seal it.
 
Allen finished with 14 points and seven rebounds and Casey Smith Jr. (Columbus) had 10 points and three assists for the Bobcats. Kenneth Rogers (Starkville), Zachariah Malone (Shady Grove, Louisiana) and Sayveon Bumpers (Quitman) added eight points each. Malone had nine blocked shots.
 
Pearl River was 16-of-32 from the free throw line, while Jones was 8-of-10. The Bobcats were 22-of-58 from the field for 38 percent.
 
Cameron Smith had 13 points and 10 rebounds for PRCC.
 
The Bobcats are now 9-2 overall, 1-2 in the MACJC South Division. Jones visits East Central for a 7:30 p.m. game on Thursday and the game will be streamed on www.eccc.edu/eccc-media.
 
Pearl River, 11-0 and 3-0, hosts Hinds on Thursday.