POPLARVILLE, Miss. — Five Pearl River men's basketball players finished in double figures Friday night as the Wildcats took down Coastal Alabama - South 87-56 inside Marvin R. White Coliseum as part of the All-State Invitational sponsored by the Pigott Agency.
"We were ready to play when the game started, but the intensity wasn't there," head coach Chris Oney said. "We grinded things out and now have some things on film that we can go back and watch to clean up. All in all, I was pleased with how everything went."
Pearl River (3-0 overall) opened the game on a 13-4 run against Coastal Alabama - South (0-3) — powered by six quick points from Austin Fortune (Atlanta, Ga.; Dutchtown). The Wildcats went up by 14 with 6:33 remaining in the first half, with Christian Gillland (Memphis, Tenn.; ABC Prep) knocking down a 3-pointer and fighting his way to the rim for a layup, 33-19.
The Wildcats went on to take a 12-point, 40-28 lead into the midway point. Two minutes into the second half, Daijon Leatherman (Slidell, La.; Legacy School of Sport and Science) converted an and-one opportunity, scoring through a hard foul and draining his free throw, 49-28. He went on to score four of the team's next seven points to push PRCC ahead 56-39.
Kelan Rich (Pascagoula) used his defense and rebounding ability to help create opportunities for PRCC down the stretch. At the 8:44 mark, he ripped down an offensive board and pushed down the court before finding Gilliland for a jumper, 63-54.
After not having made a 3-pointer in the first half, Lazarus Mason (Atlanta, Ga.; Grayson) caught fire late in the contest, drilling long balls at the 4:07, 3:42 and 3:07 marks to extend PRCC's lead to 83-50.
The Wildcats tacked on four more points down the stretch to take home an impressive 87-56 victory over the Coyotes.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
Gilliland came off the bench to score 28 points on 10-for-16 shooting. He also had five rebounds, two steals and one assist.
Leatherman finished the night with a 16-point, 14-rebound double-double — his third straight to begin the season. Fortune had 14 points and 10 rebounds to earn a double-double.
Rich finished one rebound and one assist shy of a triple-double, ending the contest with 11 points, nine rebounds and nine assists. Mason caught fire late in the second half from beyond the arc to finish with 11 points.
NEXT UP
Pearl River returns to action Saturday at 2 p.m. against Chattahoochee Valley.
TICKETS
Basketball season tickets are available now for $103, granting access to all home regular-season games. Single-game tickets are $9 in advance and $11 on the day of the game. Tickets can be purchased at PRCCAthletics.com/Tickets.
TUNE IN
All home Pearl River basketball games are livestreamed for free at PRCCMedia.com/Gold. Fans who have Roku, Amazon Fire or Apple TV devices can also watch the Wildcat broadcasts by downloading the "Pearl River CC" channel from their app stores.
Games will also be available over the air in Pearl River County by tuning into 1320-AM and 106.9 FM. The radio broadcast is also available at WRJWRadio.com and by downloading the WRJW app.
For the latest on Pearl River Community College athletics, follow us on X (@PRCCAthletics) and Facebook (PRCCAthletics).
