ELLISVILLE — The Copiah-Lincoln Community College Wolvesknocked off the Jones County Bobcats 78-72 in a key South Divisiongame Thursday night and won the right to host the MACJC BasketballState Tournament next week.

In the women’s game, the Lady Bobcats beat the Lady Wolves65-63. The Co-Lin women were eliminated from the tournament withthe loss.

The Wolves, the No. 1 South men’s team, improved to 18-7 on theseason and finish 12-2 in South action. The Lady Wolves finish theregular season 8-6 in the conference and were15-10 overall.

The State Tournament kicksoff Monday af Mullen Gymnasium with afull slate of the women’s first-round games.

Tuesday, Co-Lin meets East Mississippi at 7:45 p.m. in the men’sopening round. The semifinals will be held Wednesday andchampionship games on Thursday.

Co-Lin 78, Jones Co. 72

Freshman guard Joe Holliday powered the Wolves with game-high 24points, including 8 three-pointers, pulled down 8 rebounds, made 2steals and had 2 assists.

At halftime, the Wolves and Bobcats were tied 38-all.

“We didn’t play that well, but we were able to stay close andmade the plays at the end,” said Co-Lin men’s head coach DennisSims. “Defensively, we struggled for most of the game, but in thelast 6 minutes, we were able to make things happendefensively.”

Sophomore guard Ledell Eackles fired in 18 points, grabbed 3rebounds and had 3 assists for the Wolves. Cedric Walker netted 14points, pulled down 4 rebounds, made 3 steals and blocked 2shots.

Milton Collins led Jones County with 13 points, Duran Eckfordnetted 12 points followed by Stanley Brownlee with 10. Brownlee had8 rebounds.

Jones Co. 65, Co-Lin 63

The Jones County women had the advantage from the free throwline, going 21 of 30 compared to Co-Lin’s 7 of 10 last night.

“In the first half, we played terrible,” said Co-Lin women’shead coach Gwyn Young. “We missed easy shots, our defense was badand we didn’t execute on offense.”

In the second half, the Lady Wolves made a run at the LadyBobcats and tied the game. Co-Lin had the ball but turned it overto Jones. The Lady Bobcats went ahead by two points and the LadyWolves missed their free throws with 1.7 seconds.

“They knocked us out of the state tournament,” added Young.

Sophomore forward Crystal Brown led Co-Lin with 22 points,grabbed 13 rebounds, made 3 steals and blocked 2 shots. GloriaLewis scored 15 points, collected 3 rebounds, made 4 steals and had3 assists. Travalyn Smith finished with 9 points, 10 rebounds, 3steals and blocked 2 shots.