POPLARVILLE, Miss. — The Cardiac 'Cats survived again.

After falling behind with just three minutes to go against East Mississippi, the Pearl River men's basketball team didn't crack under the pressure and rallied back to take down the Lions 60-56.

Three minutes into the night, Pearl River unfortunately lost starter Jamarion Smith (Magnolia; South Pike) to an injury, forcing players to need to step up in his absence. 

"After Jamarion's injury, I knew it was going to take us a few plays to get back going," head coach Chris Oney said. "These guys are so close. We had to piece things together tonight. Some players stepped up and made huge plays. We found a way."

East Mississippi (9-15 overall; 3-6 MACCC) punched Pearl River (21-3; 10-0) in the mouth a little over 10 minutes into the night, stunning the Wildcats by taking a nine-point, 23-14 lead. 

It began raining 3-pointers for the Wildcats as they tried to fight back into the contest. Mason Lewis (Stockbridge, Ga.; Woodland) got the first one to fall, and a few plays later, Zahir Gutierrez (Olive Branch) fired a long ball that rolled around the rim and eventually fell in to make the score 25-20.

Trailing 27-22, Dylan Sanders (Aurora, Colo.) drilled a corner 3-pointer to pull the Wildcats within two. Jayden Sampson (Cleveland; Cleveland Central) created some offense with his defensive effort immediately after, mashing a shot attempt down for a block. The ball ended up in the hands of the Wildcats. Krystian Lewis (Monroe, La.; Wossman) rushed down the court before tossing a lob perfectly into the air for a Joah Chappelle (Atlanta, Ga.; Dutchtown) slam, 27-27. 

Pearl River snatched the lead just before the half ended as Chappelle pulled down an offensive rebound and scored, 29-27.

Pearl River remained in front for much of the second half as the teams essentially traded baskets. East Mississippi remained in striking distance throughout, cutting the Wildcat lead down to one point at 52-51. The Lions attempted a 3-pointer and were fouled to bring up three crucial free throws. The EMCC athlete was perfect on all of his attempts to propel his team in front 54-52 with just over three minutes left.

Chappelle squared things up at 54 apiece on two free throws of his own before Kedrick Osby (Moss Point) slashed home a mid-range jumper with a hand in his face to put the Wildcat back ahead, 56-54.

East Mississippi tied things up one final time before a successful dribble drive to the basket by Krystian Lewis resulted in the most electrifying score of the night, 58-56. EMCC was forced to foul, and Gutierrez hit a pair of important free throws down the stretch to help PRCC squeak out a 60-56 victory.

BY THE NUMBERS
Chappelle had a fantastic night for the Wildcats, finishing with a 19-point, 12-rebound double-double. He also dished out three assists. 

Sanders tacked on 12 points and two rebounds. 

"The work is going to show. Dylan is in this gym all the time working," Oney said. "He was so locked in and focused on the defensive end tonight. That helped carry us through."

Osby rounded out the Wildcats in double figures with 11 points. He also had five rebounds.

Krystian Lewis finished with eight points, nine assists and five rebounds.

NEXT UP
The Wildcats head to Holmes on Monday for a 7:30 p.m. game against Holmes. The game will be livestreamed at HolmesCCMedia.com.

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