The Pearl River men's basketball wrapped up the fall semester in the best way possible Saturday afternoon, taking care of Southern University – Shreveport 73-60 inside Marvin R. White Coliseum.
"We've been working on the "code blue" moments. Those moments where we get up by 10 and they make a run," head coach Chris Oney said. "We've had to deal with that a lot this year and it's been important for us to learn from. I think we did a good job of stopping the runs and it led to some success today."
Pearl River (7-5 overall) fell behind to open the afternoon against Southern University – Shreveport (8-5) with the Jaguars opening on a 6-2 run. The Wilds took a lead that lasted the rest of the contest at the 17:28-mark. Kelan Rich (Pascagoula) caught a pass from Reece Garrison (Olive Branch) and drilled a 3-pointer from the corner, 7-6.
The Wildcats extended things out to a six-point advantage at 17-11 when Jayden Sampson (Cleveland; Cleveland Central) delivered a perfect over the top pass to Daijon Leatherman (Slidell, La.; Legacy School of Sports and Sciences) for a bucket.
A 10-5 run by the Wildcats was capped by a Kamarian Mayfield (Waynesboro; Quitman) drive down the baseline for a layup following a pass from Rich, 27-16. The Jaguars outscored the Wildcats down the stretch of the first half, but Pearl River still carried a 35-29 lead into the midway point.
The Wildcats caught fire to begin the second half, opening on a 7-0 run. Rich drained a 3-pointer and layups from Sampson and Christian Gilliland (Memphis, Tenn.; ABC Prep) followed, 42-29.
Mayfield began to take the game over with just under 14.5 minutes remaining in the contest. On back-to-back possessions he knocked down layups to extend PRCC's lead to 50-36. A little while later he knocked down a free throw before giving the Wildcats their highlight of the season to this point. The redshirt freshman guard saw a bit of space, rounded his defender and flew down the lane for an incredible posterizing tomahawk slam, 57-45. He went on to add four more points to give PRCC 63-48.
The teams nearly matched each other basket for basket throughout the rest of the way as Pearl River secured a 73-60 victory over the Jaguars.
LEADING THE WAY
After scoring just five points in the first half, Gilliland erupted for 14 points in the second half to finish with a team-high 19. He added four rebounds and two steals. Rich finished with 14 points and pulled down 10 rebounds to record a double-double, while also dishing out three assists.
Mayfield provided a spark off the bench, scoring 13 points in just 19 minutes.
"Kam is one of our best athletes," Oney said. "I told him not to bail them out — go use your talents because they can't stop you at the rim. In the second half, he did that."
Garrison finished with 11 points, while Sampson chipped in 10 points and nine rebounds.
NEXT UP
Pearl River returns to the court when the calendar flips to 2026 as the Wildcats host Shelton State on Jan. 5 at 7:30 p.m. inside Marvin R. White Coliseum.
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