CLINTON — Co-Lin men’s basketball coach Dennis Sims turned tohis bench Wednesday and almost found a winning combination in thesemifinals of the NJCAA Region 23 Tournament. Freshman reserveArvel Keys scored 16 points but the Wolves still fell to SouthernUniversity at Shreveport 68-61 in A.E. Wood Coliseum on theMississippi College campus.

Southern (23-6) advances to tonight’s championship game againstNorthwest (28-2) which eliminated Hinds 80-70 in yesterday’s othersemifinals game. Tonight’s winner advances to the NJCAA NationalTournament in Hutchinson, Kan.

In the women’s finals tonight at 6, defending regional championEast Central plays Northwest. East Central edged state championMississippi Delta 75-74 in overtime last night while Northwestshaved Northeast 78-77. The women’s regional champ advances to thenational tourney in Salina, Kan.

Sims watched his Wolves (21-8) get off to a sluggish startagainst Southern, falling behind 14-0 and 18-5. He decided to benchhis starting quintet for the last 11 minutes of the first half.

Co-Lin’s reserves responded and played with intensity. TheWolves trailed Southern 31-26 at halftime.

“We just didn’t come ready to play,” said Sims. “We didn’t playhard and we didn’t execute.”

Sims praised his reserves. “We put new guys in and they got thejob done. They played hard and busted their tails. They gave ourstarters a chanced to get back in.”

Co-Lin’s leading scorers, guards Ledell Eackles and JoeHolliday, combined for just 10 points in the defeat. Eackles wasaveraging 18-plus points per game and Holliday averaged14-plus.

“In 30-plus years of coaching, I’ve never seen something likethis happen,” said Sims. “Sometimes, you might have one player notplaying well but not the whole five. They weren’t mentally ready toplay.

“Ledell didn’t feel good,” Sims noted. “If you don’t feel good,you have to overcome it.”

After the game, Eackles, wiped his runny nose with a towel,coughed and apologized for his illness. “I’m sorry I wasn’t feelinggood. Our bench came in and did a good job. They kept the gameclose.”

Keys, a 6-5 freshman from Mendenhall, gave the Wolves a brieflead at 36-35 early in the second half. The Jaguars regrouped andregained the lead at 38-36 on a layup by Walter Ledoux. They led41-36 with 13:40 left to play and increased the margin to 10points, 48-38.

Co-Lin got a 3-point play from guard Brandon Caston with 2:17left to play, pulling the Wolves within 4 points, 62-58. The Jagsgot 2 field goals and 2 free throws in the final 61 seconds.

Southern coach David Frances said he was happy to beat Co-Lin.”We were scared of their guards. We did a good job shutting downtheir guards, especially the Eackles kid.”

Frances is in his fifth year coaching Southern. He coached atBossier Parrish Community College before moving across town.

The Jaguars were powered by Ledoux’s 18 points. He’s a 6-4sophomore from Baton Rouge.

Turmaine Rice, a 6-3 sophomore from Doylina, La., followedLedoux with 15 points.