POPLARVILLE, Miss. — The Pearl River men's basketball team snapped a four-game skid in emphatic fashion Monday night inside Marvin R. White Coliseum, eclipsing the 100-point mark in a 104–55 rout of William Carey JV.
"We're still trying to find something to hang our hat on right now," head coach Chris Oney said. "Every possession we have to take a good shot, take care of the ball, box out and do what we're supposed to on defense. We've still got some work to do between now and January."
Pearl River (6–4 overall) came out red hot, ripping off a dominant 20–4 run to open the game. Christian Gilliland (Memphis, Tenn.; ABC Prep) scored the first five points of the afternoon with a perfect 3-for-3 trip to the free-throw line and a layup created by an Austin Fortune (Atlanta, Ga.; Dutchtown) steal. Back-to-back buckets by Jayden Sampson (Cleveland; Cleveland Central), including a putback off an offensive rebound, capped the run.
Kelan Rich (Pascagoula) delivered consecutive highlight plays later in the half to push the lead to 35–12. He first got into the lane and banked in a short floater, then followed it up by blocking a shot on the defensive end and taking it coast-to-coast for a layup. Moments later, Devonta Thompson (Bogue Chitto) caught fire from deep, drilling three straight 3-pointers from the right corner to make it 48–22.
A quick seven-point spurt extended the margin to 57–25 with 2:13 left before halftime. The sequence included a Rich layup, a Gilliland 3-pointer, a Fortune finish at the rim and a baseline layup from Gilliland. Pearl River carried a commanding 63–28 lead into the break.
Daijon Leatherman (Slidell, La.; Legacy School of Sports and Sciences) took over early in the second half, helping PRCC balloon its lead to 53. He pushed the advantage to 82–34 by converting through contact and sinking the and-one free throw. Quick ball movement set him up for another easy basket shortly after, and he punctuated the run with a two-handed slam off a pass from Rich to make it 90–37.
A 9-0 run later in the half helped the Wildcats break the 100-point barrier. Leading 94–52, PRCC forced a turnover and Rich threw down a transition dunk. Jason Talbert (Cleveland; Cleveland Central) then used a screen to get downhill for a layup, and Mason knocked down a 3-pointer from the top of the arc to push the score to 101–52. Pearl River closed out the game from there to secure the 104–55 victory.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
Gilliland poured in 24 points — his eighth 20-point performance of the season — and added three rebounds. Leatherman finished with 15 points and five boards.
Sampson posted a 14-point, 12-rebound double-double and added four assists. Thompson, Fortune and Rich also reached double figures with 12, 11 and 10 points, respectively. Rich nearly recorded a triple-double, contributing six rebounds and six assists.
NEXT UP
The Wildcats travel to Shelton State on Monday for a 7:30 p.m. tipoff.
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