Booneville, Miss. – Desmin Harris broke out of a slump to help Northeast Mississippi Community College enter its initial lengthy break of the 2014-15 campaign on a positive note.

Harris reached double figures for the first time since the opening contest of the year to guide the Tigers to an 84-59 victory over West Kentucky Community and Technical College on Thursday evening at legendary Bonner Arnold Coliseum.

The 6-2 guard had not made an attempt from beyond the arc and was only shooting 17.8 percent from the floor overall in his previous four outings. However, Harris found his touch against the Stars and recorded 12 points on a trio of treys.

"I feel like I had a good game and I stepped up," Harris said. "Coach has been telling me to stay in the gym, be confident in my shot and to keep working on it. I knew it would come to me."

Harris was instrumental in a strong second half that saw Northeast widen its advantage. He stole a pass eight minutes into the final period and completed an old-fashioned three-point play after he was fouled on his successful layup.

The Corinth native then drained a shot from long range to force a West Kentucky timeout and give the Tigers their biggest lead of the night at 61-42 with 10:07 left on the clock.

Northeast used a 15-2 run moments later to distance itself from the Stars even more. Tyre Mallard ignited the spurt with a basket that was assisted by Antonio Dodson while Raheem Sorrell added four free throws in the same span.

Harris knocked down another trey before Chris Echols capped the stretch with a bucket that put the Tigers (3-3) comfortably ahead 74-47 with 5:21 remaining in the matchup.

Mallard and Harris wrapped up the triumph for Northeast in the inaugural meeting between the two institutions with back-to-back three-pointers late in the contest. Caledonia's Mallard matched Harris with a season-best 12 points in his third consecutive start.

"I try to do my part just like everybody else," said Mallard. "We practiced real hard all week and it paid off."

The Tigers scored 12 of the first 14 points and never trailed. Chase Carroll and Dimario Jackson connected on early looks from behind the arc to put Northeast up by double digits less than five minutes into the game.

West Kentucky (3-7) cut its deficit to as close as 24-20 at the 2:44 mark following a Tarecus Hughes lay in and a free shot by Davonta Spencer. But the Tigers took a 34-23 advantage into the locker room after Jackson's jumper.

Jackson returned to normal form after his streak of 13 straight games with double figure point totals was broken on Monday. He paced all scorers with 16 points on six makes from the field.

Dodson tallied 10 points as well to round out Northeast's top performers. The Olive Branch High School graduate also led all players with a career-high five assists in 20 minutes of action.

Jermaine Lee registered 15 points while Chase Clark notched 10 for the Stars, who were only 9.1 percent from the three-point line. West Kentucky also had 27 turnovers that the Tigers transitioned into 30 points.

"That was our emphasis," Northeast assistant coach Kyle Morris said. "We wanted to get out in the passing lane, front the post and do a really good job of ball pressure. Our guys for the most part executed that.​"

The Tigers held a plus-seven edge in rebounds during their first battle with an opponent from the Bluegrass State since the 1953-54 campaign. Dexter Stafford, who also had the most electrifying play of the matchup on an uncontested two-hand dunk off a steal, had a game-high nine boards for Northeast.

Carroll swiped three errant passes for a unit that compiled a season-best 12 steals. The Tigers blocked at least two shots for the sixth straight outing with Sorrell credited with both swats versus the Stars.

Northeast made its initial 13 free throw attempts and was 81.2 percent overall in that category. Chris Ward, Harris, Jackson, Mallard and Sorrell were each perfect at the charity stripe.

The Tigers now begin a 12-day layoff between events and do not take the court again until Tuesday, December 2 when Arkansas Baptist College visits the City of Hospitality. The doubleheader features women's action at 5:30 p.m. with the men at approximately 7:30 p.m. in their last tune-ups before the division schedule starts.