PERKISTON – Co-Lin sophomore Donte Watson struggled offensively all night. But when it came down to the end of the game, he made his only basket of the night, a 3-pointer from the right corner with 4.9 seconds left to give the Co-Lin Wolves a 71-69 win over Mississippi Gulf Coast Bulldogs Thursday night. Going into the game, the Bulldogs were tied for second place in the South Division. The loss dropped them to the No. 4 seed in the South Division as they had into next week’s MACJC State Tournament.

Co-Lin (7-16, 5-9) finishes the 2016 season on a high note, winning their final three games of the season.

The Wolves got off to a slow start offensively and midway through the first half trailed by as many as 22 points. The offense finally started getting into a rhythm and they pulled to within 11 at 36-25 at halftime.

The second half proved to be a totally different game as the Wolves played solid offense and defense to take a 64-51 lead with 6:29 left in the game. But the Bulldogs wouldn’t go down without a fight as they went on a 11-0 run. Davison Cole-Johnson hit a go-ahead basket in the final 20 seconds to give Gulf Coast a 69-68 lead. Co-Lin inbounded the ball and found Watson who buried the 3-pointer from the right corner with 4.3 seconds left. The Bulldogs managed to get the ball up court to Anfernee Hampton who was fouled with 0.2 seconds remaining. He missed the first free throw and committed a lane violation on the second shot. The Wolves were able to inbound the ball and secure the win.

After a slow first four minutes of play, Gulf Coast began to pull away from the Wolves. The Bulldogs went on a 14-0 run that gave them a 17-point lead. This gap continued to grow until late in the half. Co-Lin found traction late, and went into the locker room with momentum after scoring 10 unanswered points in the final two minutes.

“It’s amazing how down you can be one half and just look totally different in the second half,” said Co-Lin head coach Kenny Bizot. “It’s just a great performance by these guys, and what a way to end the season.”

Darius Kennedy led the Wolves with 19 points. Jonathon Dalton netted 17 and had a team-high five assists. Dearius Griffin came off the bench to add another 14 points, and Chris Williams finished the night with a double-double scoring 10 points and pulling down 13 rebounds.

Cole-Johnson led the Bulldogs with 19 points while Maurice Stephens had a double-double scoring 12 points and pulling down 15 rebounds. Tedrian Brisco came off the bench and poured in 12 points while Hampton finished with 11.

The Wolves shot 33 percent (23-of-70) from the field, 35 percent (9-of-26) from three-point range, and 67 percent (16-of-24) from the foul line. Although Gulf Coast shot 39 percent (26-of-66) from the floor, they went 0-of-16 from beyond the arc, and 63 percent (17-of-27) from the free throw line.