WESSON – Sophomore center Quentin Christian of Co-Lin scored hisbiggest basket of the night with four seconds left in the game.That basket, along with a missed 3-point try by East Central at thefinal horn, allowed the Wolves to escape Mullen Gymnasium with ahard-fought 68-66 victory over the Warriors.

The win improved Co-Lin’s record to 15-4 overall, and 5-3 in theSouth Division. East Central dropped to 10-11 and 1-7 in divisionplay.

Co-Lin travels to Utica Monday night at 8 p.m. to take onHinds.

The Wolves opened the game by gradually pulling away from theWarriors. Neither team was lighting up the scoreboard, but Co-Lindid make the most out of their scoring opportunities.

Brandon Dickerson, a 6-3 forward from Baton Rouge, tossed ineight points in the first half. His mixture of inside and outsidescoring was instrumental for the Wolves. Dickerson’s last basket ofthe half, off an offensive rebound, gave the Wolves a 24-13 leadwith under 10 minutes left in the half. They would increase thatlead to 35-21 at the break.

“Anytime you hold a team to 21 points in a half in this league,you’re doing a good job,” said Wolves head coach Dennis Sims.

East Central, though, was not going to go away that easily.

James Denson, a 6-3 freshman forward from Walnut Grove, got thehot hand for the Warriors in the second half. He scored 10 pointsin that span, including two treys. His second 3-pointer broughtEast Central to within five at 39-34 with 15 minutes left in thegame. Denson led all scorers with 17 points.

Co-Lin responded by getting the lead back up to 10, 52-42 on alayup by guard Barry Whitley.

East Central would fight back once more. The Warriors would goon a 17-6 run over the next seven minutes to gain a 59-58advantage, thanks to a putback slam by Denson.

Co-Lin would regain the lead, 61-59 as freshman guard Chad Smithdialed long distance with a trey from the right corner. There weretwo ties during a three minute stretch.

The Warriors tied the game at 66-66 on a basket by Joe Copelandwith one minute left on the scoreboard.

After several misses by both teams, Co-Lin gained possession andcalled timeout with 15 seconds remaining in the game.

“All we were doing was looking to score,” said Sims.

Whitley took the inbound pass and dribbled to the right wing,where it appeared that he was going to take the last shot. Heinstead flipped a pass to Christian who laid it in with fourseconds left on the clock.

A last-ditch shot by the Warriors at the buzzer came upshort.

“East Central was very physical in the second half,” added Sims.”We did not take advantage of the 2-3 zone that they presented tous.”

Christian paced the Wolves with 16 points and 11 rebounds.Whitley added four steals and five assists. Dickerson chipped in 15points. Whitley and Rod Haynes each scored 10 points.