On the Net (video):
The Tigers react to their MACJC North Division triumph
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycI97xr89lE
Booneville, Miss. – Cord Wright's social media prediction about his Northeast Mississippi Community College basketball team proved correct on Monday night.
The Tigers won a thrilling 90-89 overtime battle with Mississippi Delta Community College and, in the process, clinched the first Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges (MACJC) North Division victory of Wright's tenure.
The first-year Northeast headman stated on Twitter after a hard-fought loss at Holmes Community College last Thursday that he felt a "break through" was coming for his squad. That came to fruition on this evening inside Bonner Arnold Coliseum.
"Every one of them stepped in and did their role and played the way we recruited them," said Wright. "It's a team effort. There was no individual. It was our ten-to-twelve guys fighting until the end."
Northeast (4-13, 1-5) had to climb out of a large halftime deficit, though, to fulfill the prophecy of its commander-in-chief.
Marquarius Boddie scored nine straight points in an 11-2 Trojan run right before the break to enter the locker room ahead 40-24.
That 16-point lead was the largest margin Mississippi Delta held the entire game as the Tigers slowly clawed their way back to striking distance. Cannon Edwards cut the Trojans' advantage to 44-35 with 15:47 remaining after his second made trey in a row.
Darius Leach drained a long two-point shot from in front of the home bench to get Northeast within one possession of the lead at the 9:26 mark.
Moments later, Keldrick Lesley was nothing-but-net from three-point range to tie things up. Dimario Jackson immediately followed him with a layup to give the Tigers their initial lead of the second at 64-62.
The two squads fought tooth-and-nail from that point with nine lead changes and seven ties over the final six minutes of regulation. Anthony Mabon put the Trojans (7-10, 1-5) up 77-76 on two made free throws.
Following a Northeast timeout, Lesley raced down the court and was fouled with the Tigers in the double bonus. With just one second showing on the clock, the sophomore from Booneville made one of two from the charity stripe to send the matchup into an extra period.
Mississippi Delta took as much as an 87-82 advantage in overtime after an old-fashioned three-point play from Mabon. But Northeast scored the final five points of the contest, four of them from center Al Azulphar, to claim the triumph.
Jackson drove the lane and received the benefit of a blocking foul called against the Trojans. He accounted for the winning point when he was successful on the second of two free shot attempts.
Johnny Rucker brought the ball up the floor and into the paint on Mississippi Delta's final possession, but his shot was blocked by El Paso Johnson-Pitts and quickly snatched up by Azulphar as the horn sounded.
"I was just being confident," said Johnson-Pitts of his last-second swat. "I had to move my feet, trust my help side and just make the play."
Jackson looked as if he had not missed a beat after missing the past couple of games with a nagging injury. The Brusly, La., product poured in a career-best 27 points on 8 of 13 shooting and an 11 of 14 showing at the free throw line.
"I came in the gym yesterday and worked extra on (my shot) trying to make sure I got it right for tonight because I knew we needed this win," he said. "This is a big win for us. We know we've been working hard and getting better."
Five other Tigers joined Jackson in double figures, the most in one game by Northeast in over two years. Edwards had the next highest total with 15 points off five makes from behind the arc.
Azulphar recorded his fourth double-double of the campaign with 13 points and 12 boards. The Norwalk, Conn., native added five blocks and altered numerous other shot attempts.
Johnson-Pitts tallied 10 points in the first collegiate start for the Millington Central (Tenn.) High School alumnus. Leach and Lesley put in 10-point performances as well.
The Tigers were a sizzling 58.8 percent from the field after halftime and 8 of 11 on three-point attempts.
Northeast held the edge in turnovers forced by a plus-10 margin and committed a season low six errors in the 45-minute battle.
"We're going to have to continue to get some defensive stops," said Wright. "Our momentum, and this is a credit to our guys, has stayed strong. They keep fighting and fighting."
Boddie topped the Trojans with 24 points while Rucker (19), James Evans (17) and Mabon (10) also hit double digits.
(W) Mississippi Delta 76, Northeast 72
A balanced scoring attack nearly led the Lady Tigers over their guests, but time ran out on Northeast's come-from-behind efforts.
Four Lady Tigers reached double figures in points, topped by Aushiana Ivy's 19. It is the second contest in a row for the Tupelo native to head the offensive effort for Northeast.
Antionette Riddle added 14 points and reached double digits for the twelfth straight outing. Teresa Mays notched 12 points while Kiki Gwyn had 11 from the point guard spot.
Gwyn, a former standout at Kossuth High School, also brought in five steals and dished out two assists, which she prefers to do.
"I'd rather pass than score any day," she said. "I think I just kinda go with the flow, find the open person and distribute."
A Marie McGee field goal put the Lady Trojans up 30-22 with 3:36 left in the opening half, but Northeast (6-11, 1-5) fought back to and scored the last 10 points of the first.
Ivy dropped in five quick points, and then Mays connected from beyond the arc with two seconds remaining to catapult the Lady Tigers into the intermission with a 32-28 advantage.
Both squads went back-and-forth for the initial nine minutes of the final period with eight ties, but Mississippi Delta jumped ahead for good on two free throws by Aqueshia Kimble at the 11:00 mark.
The Lady Trojans (10-6, 5-1) used an 8-0 spurt with buckets from Kalesha Williams and Ashanti Spencer to push ahead as much as 53-46.
A turnover coupled with a handful of missed attempts at the charity stripe for Mississippi Delta opened the door for Northeast, but Ivy's offensive rebound and put back as the clock expired still saw the Lady Tigers four points shy of the lead.
"I'm very pleased with some of the things out there, but I'm not pleased with the end result," said Northeast head coach Brian Alexander. "We've got to overcome our deficiencies and move on."
Kimble paced the Lady Trojans with 27 points while Spencer and Williams totaled 13 and 11 points, respectively.
The Lady Tigers and Tigers begin the second half of the MACJC North Division rotation at Itawamba Community College this Thursday, January 30. The evening gets started with women's action at 6 p.m. with the men's game immediately after at the Davis Event Center.