SUMMIT, Miss. — Southwest narrowly escaped with an 87-86 victory over Jones on Monday night at the Southwest Basketball Center. The Bobcats survived after a last-second three-pointer by Jones missed, hitting front iron.
Jones overcame a 16-point first-half deficit, which grew to 27-11 with 8:54 remaining in the first half. The Bobcats rallied to trail 39-35 at halftime. Jay Tyler’s floater gave Jones its first lead of the second half, 42-41, early in the third quarter. The teams exchanged leads, with Keron Jackson catching fire for Jones, hitting four consecutive three-pointers and finishing with a game-high 26 points off the bench.
Trailing 80-71 with just over five minutes remaining, Jones tied the game at 84-84 on a floater from Jackson. Tyler then hit a floater with 40.7 seconds left to give Jones an 86-85 lead. Southwest’s Braylon Barnes missed a foul shot, but Tyler responded with a jumper, putting Jones ahead 86-85 with less than a minute remaining. Southwest retook the lead with an 11-foot jumper that rattled in with 11 seconds left.
Jones opted not to call timeout and let the play develop. Tyler’s potential game-winning three-pointer missed just short, hitting front iron. Jackson’s season-high 26 points and Tyler’s 24 led Southwest, along with Dylan Rowe’s 18 and Braylon Barnes’ 10 points and eight rebounds. Despite a slow start, Southwest shot 50% for the game.
The Bobcats will host the winner of Pearl River and Copiah-Lincoln in the NJCAA Region 23 Quarterfinals Saturday at 6 p.m.
