Coahoma hands Northwest men first home loss, 95-81

Photo: Houston Cunningham sets up on defense during Northwest’s home game against Coahoma at Howard Coliseum. (Caleb Burggraf/nwccrangers.com)

SENATOBIA, Miss. – The Northwest Mississippi Community College men’s basketball team suffered its first home loss of the season Thursday, falling 95-81 to the undefeated Coahoma Community College Tigers at Howard Coliseum.

The Rangers dropped to 3-2 on the season, while the Tigers improved to 4-0.

The game started as a tight, back-and-forth contest. After trailing early, the Rangers used a 6-0 run to take their first lead at 26-24 with just under eight minutes remaining in the half. The lead changed hands five times over the next two minutes, but Coahoma assembled a run fueled by several three-pointers to pull ahead 37-32.

After two brief ties, the Tigers closed the half on an 8-0 run in the final minute to take a 52-44 lead into halftime.

Coahoma extended its lead to double digits early in the second half. Northwest continued to battle, closing the gap to five points with five minutes left to play. However, the Tigers responded with key baskets to push the lead back to 10 points at 81-71. The Rangers could not get closer than nine points for the remainder of the game, as Coahoma stretched the final margin to 16.

Northwest struggled offensively in the second half, shooting just 31.6% from the field. For the game, the Tigers shot over 50%. The Rangers had a particularly difficult night from distance, finishing 7-for-34 (20.5%) from beyond the arc.

Turnovers also plagued the Rangers, who committed 19 and lost the turnover battle for the first time this season, forcing only 16 from Coahoma.

“I thought the guys kept fighting to the end,” said Head Coach John Redman. “We can’t turn the ball over 19 times, and we have to get better at that. We aren’t going to beat anybody shooting just 20 percent from three… But it’s like I told the guys, we aren’t going to solve it now, so let’s watch the film and try to get better from it.”

Despite the loss, Northwest featured a balanced scoring attack with three players in double figures. Sophomore Dakota Morris led the Rangers for the second consecutive game with 17 points. Demetrius Duffy contributed 16 points and fell one rebound short of a double-double. Josiah Nelson added 10 points on 4-for-6 shooting.

The Rangers (3-2) will have time to regroup, as their next two games have been rescheduled. Their next contest is Nov. 18 against Arkansas State University–Mid-South. Northwest will look to avenge a narrow 103-98 road loss to the Greyhounds from the opening weekend of the season.

“They have a really good guard, and we have to be ready for him, but we will be ready to play on Tuesday,” Redman added.

The team’s home game against Mississippi Delta Community College has been moved to Dec. 6 at 4 p.m.

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