Wolves Drop Two Games in Florida

NICEVILLE – The Co-Lin Men's Basketball team hit the road for a pair of games to open the season facing off against No. 6 Northwest Florida State on Friday, November 1, and Southern Union State on Saturday, November 2. The No. 6 Raiders beat the Wolves, 74-64, while the Bison beat the Wolves, 86-82.

Northwest Florida 74 Co-Lin 64

The opening minutes of the game were back and forth between the two teams but ultimately the Raiders held an 8-4 advantage with 15:12 left to play in the first half. The game then went into a near three-minute scoring drought finally broken by a tip-in basket by Dakotah Hillard (Hazlehurst) at the 12:44 mark cutting the lead down to two points. The Wolves then used an 8-6 scoring run to tie the game at 14-14 with 8:03 remaining in the first half. The Wolves closed out the first half by outscoring the Raiders, 17-9, to hold a 31-23 as the teams entered the locker rooms at half.

The second half saw the Wolves use a quick 4-0 scoring run to push their lead to 35-23 with 18:24 left to play. The Raiders responded with a 12-5 scoring run to cut the Wolves lead down to 40-35 with 16:15 remaining in the second half. The Raiders then outscored the Wolves, 18-8, to take a 53-48 lead over the Wolves with 9:14 left in the game. The Raiders continued to grow their lead with a 10-4 scoring run making the score, 63-52, with 5:50 left to play. The Wolves outscored the Raiders, 12-11, over the final minutes but could not retake the lead as the Raiders secured the 74-64 win.

Javian Watkins (Jackson) and Deven Bates (Jackson) led the way for the Wolves with 22 points each while Dakotah Hillard has 17 points with Antonio Oatis (Hattiesburg) had three points to round out the scoring for the Wolves. Bates also led the team in rebounds with seven while Oatis, Hillard, and Jayden Jackson (Camden) had five rebounds each.

Southern Union 86 Co-Lin 82

In their second game of the weekend, the Wolves had a hard-fought first half with the Bison. Ultimately the Bison held a 44-37 advantage over the Wolves as they teams entered the locker rooms at halftime.

The second half saw the Wolves come alive and win the half but outscoring the Bison, 45-42. However, the Wolves would not be able to overcome the first half deficit as the Bison secured the 86-82 victory.

Deven Bates had a career game as he posted a double-double with a team-leading 26 points and a game-leading 14 rebounds. Dakotah Hillard had 17 points with five rebounds, while Chris Stephens Jr., (Byram) and Prince Ojukwu (Etobicoke Ontario) had eight points each. Brick Nkugwa (Kampala, Uganda) and Dawson Knox (Brookhaven) had five points each while Javian Watkins had four points and Antonio Oatis had three points. Corey Brown (Roxie), Demarion Terry (Edwards), and Keisean Shields (Atoka, OK) had two points each to round out the scoring for the Wolves.

Co-Lin is now 0-2 overall and will hit the road for a game against Mississippi Delta on Tuesday, November 5. Tip-off between the Wolves and the Trojans is set for 7:30 p.m.