The 13^th-ranked Cardinals built a seven-point halftime lead and held on to claim a 71-65 win on the road Wednesday night against Paris Junior College.

The win boosted the Cardinals' season record to 19-4 heading into a showdown at home Saturday against No. 8 Panola (19-2). The Cardinals are 10-2 in Region Conference and trail 10-1 Panola by a half-game. Saturday's game time is 4 p.m.

Ahamad Bynum led the Cardinals with 16  points, including the Cardinals' only two-pointers of the game.

Denim Johnson and Mouhamed Mbaye were also in double figures with 11 points each. Mbaye had a team-high 10 rebounds.

Paris slipped to 15-8 and 7-5 records with the loss.