POPLARVILLE, Miss. — A sloppy second half doomed the Pearl River men's basketball team Thursday night against Northeast as the Wildcats fell 72-56 to the Tigers in PRCC's regular-season finale.

"We went up four in the second half, and then we sputtered a little bit," head coach Chris Oney said. "They took control of the game. We've had a lot of guys get injured lately, and we don't always have that continuity on the court. We have to keep fighting and get ready for the Region 23 Tournament."

Pearl River (22-6 overall; 11-3) looked to be in control early in the night against Northeast (25-4; 9-4), building out a 15-10 lead with 11:43 left in the first half. The Wildcats scored their 15th point of the night on a Kedrick Osby (Moss Point) pull-up jumper in transition.

NEMCC took its first lead since the opening basket with 4:32 left in the half, and the teams traded baskets the rest of the way, entering halftime tied at 32 apiece.

With nearly 16 minutes left in the game, Joah Chappelle (Atlanta, Ga.; Dutchtown) suffered an injury that forced him to miss the rest of the game, deflating the Wildcats in the process. Northeast quickly began pulling away despite Pearl River's best efforts. 

Krystian Lewis (Monroe, La.; Wossman) and Dylan Sanders (Aurora, Colo.) did their best to will PRCC back into the game, but it wasn't enough as the Tigers went on to win 72-56.

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
Lewis finished with 26 points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals. Osby tallied 14 points, three rebounds and two blocks. Sanders was the only other Wildcat in double figures, finishing with 14 points, two rebounds and two steals.

NEXT UP
Pearl River has already earned a bye in the upcoming Region 23 Tournament. PRCC will return to action on March 10 inside Marvin R. White Coliseum against an opponent to be determined. 

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