WESSON — Ivory Dishmon could only watch and hope and pray asthe final 25 seconds ticked off the Mullen Gymnasium scoreboardclock. The Co-Lin sophomore playmaker sprang to his feet andcelebrated when 6-foot-10 teammate Christian Marshall tipped in thedecisive field goal, lifting the Wolves to a hard-fought 64-62Monday night victory over the East Central Community CollegeWarriors.

It was the first South Division test of the season for Co-Lin(6-3, 1-0). East Central (9-3, 0-1) was unable to launch along-distance trey from half-court in the final 1.7 seconds of thegame.

“I was happy to see Marshall tip it in,” said Dishmon, outsidethe happy Co-Lin dressing room. “That was a big-time offensiverebound. I didn’t want it to go overtime and me not be able helpthem.”

Dishmon, a 5-8 sophomore from Clinton, had fouled out with 25seconds left in the game. He had sparked a late Co-Lin rally, whenthe Wolves trailed by 7 points, 48-41, 8:11 left to play. He was aperfect 7-for-7 from the free throw line in the fading minutes. Hissecond free throw at the 3:12 mark gave Co-Lin a 57-56 lead.

“I was sluggish and I wasn’t playing my game the first half,”said Dishmon. “Coach (Dennis Sims) told me at halftime that heexpected a lot more out of me.”

Dishmon responded by scoring 14 of his 16 points in the final 20minutes of action as Co-Lin overcame the Warriors. Sophomore guardJoe Holliday pumped in a team-leading 21 points, sacking 4treys.

“Ivory made a big three and a bunch of free throws for us,” saidSims. “He has to play better for us to be successful.”

Sims employed 13 players Monday night. Dexter Brunson ofWingfield and Zach Thomas of Franklin County joined the team forthe second semester and both contributed last night.

“Zach Thomas played well and Dexter Brunson is going to giveIvory a break,” said Sims. “Christian Marshall got a big field goalfor us because he stayed with it. Lamar Hall did a good job,too.

“Arvel Keys busted his tail for us,” Sims continued. Keys ledCo-Lin’s boardwork with 8 rebounds. Marshall had 6 boards.

East Central, under the direction of first-year coach SteveHampton, got 22 points from Johnny Hodge, a powerful 6-4 freshmanfrom Monroe, La. Sam Walton, a muscular 6-6 freshman from JacksonLanier, netted 11 points.