Wolves Roll Past Trojans

WESSON – The Co-Lin Men's Basketball team returned to action this week hosting conference foe Mississippi Delta on Monday, January 23. The Wolves overcame a slow start in the first half and then had an offensive explosion in the second half to beat the Trojans, 82-67.

Both the Trojans and the Wolves had sluggish starts to the came as they scored five points apiece in the opening minutes with the game tied 5-5 with 17 minutes of play left in the first half. The score remained tied for over three minutes of action as both teams could not find a way to score until sophomore forward Kaeden Laws broke the tie with a layup at the 13:49 mark to give the Wolves a 7-5 lead. The Wolves then went on a 16-11 scoring run to take a 23-16 lead with six minutes remaining in the half. The Trojans responded with an 11-7 scoring run to close out the half, but the Wolves held a 30-27 lead behind the strength of a first half double-double by freshman forward Dylan Canoville (Plantation, Fla.) with 10 points and 12 rebounds as part of a new career-record setting night.

The opening minutes of the second half belonged to the Wolves as they went on a 12-7 scoring run to take a 42-34 lead with just under 15 minutes of play left in the game. The Trojans cut the Wolves lead down to six points in the following minutes but never got any closer as the Wolves went on a 14-13 scoring run to hold a 56-47 lead with close to 10 minutes remaining. The Wolves closed out the game outscoring the Trojans 32-20 to secure the 88-67 win for their second straight win in MACCC play.

Dylan Canoville and sophomore forward AJ Warnsley (Byram) were instrumental in leading the Wolves to the win as both forwards posted double-double performances. Canoville finished the game with 18 points and 21 rebounds, which is a new career-high mark, while Warnsley had 11 points and 10 rebounds for his third straight double-double of the season. Sophomore guard Jemario Hersey (Brookhaven) led the Wolves in scoring with 19 points along with five rebounds. Warnsley and Hersey also had one block each while Canoville had three blocks during the game. Sophomore forward Kaeden Laws (Southaven) also had 17 points with one rebound, one assist, and two steals.

Sophomore guard Cowandric Samuel (Jackson) had nine points with seven rebounds and a team-leading seven assists, while sophomore guard Andrew Anderson (Hattiesburg) and freshman forward Chandler Hodges (Mathiston) had four points each to round out the scoring for the Wolves.

Co-Lin improves to 9-5 overall, 3-2 in conference play, and will hit the road to face off against Northeast Mississippi on Thursday, January 26. Tip-off between the Wolves and the Tigers is set for 6 p.m., at Bonner Arnold Coliseum in Booneville.