Booneville, Miss. - Wesley Harris and a promising group of newcomers lit up the scoreboard during their debut with the Northeast Mississippi Community College men's basketball program.
Harris was one of four freshmen to score at least nine points for the Tigers during a 102-75 victory over Baton Rouge (La.) Community College on Monday, November 2 during the final game of opening night action at the annual Northeast Tipoff Classic.
The Callaway High School graduate came off the bench to accumulate a game-high 25 points with eight made field goals. Harris was one rebound away from recording a double-double as well.
"It feels really good," said Harris. "It was just the little things. We made cuts and moved around. Everybody played aggressive. We stayed at them and kept pressuring them."
Northeast never trailed after Raheem Sorrell went one of two from the charity stripe just 10 seconds into the matchup for the first point of the season. University of Southern Mississippi transfer Davon Hayes added a trey moments later for the initial basket for the Tigers.
A 10-2 run allowed Northeast to take its inaugural double-digit advantage. Desmin Harris concluded the spurt with a three-pointer to propel the Tigers ahead by a count of 20-9 with 13:59 left before the break.
The Bears got their deficit to only seven points at the 3:47 mark following Karim El-Amin's shot from beyond the arc. But buckets late in the period by Kendall Stafford and Hayes gave Northeast a 49-38 lead at the intermission.
Baton Rouge (0-1) pieced together a nice start to the second half. An 8-0 stretch, which included four points from Devante Marshall, pulled the Bears within two possessions of the Tigers' lead.
The combination of Kendarius Smith and Wesley Harris did not let Baton Rouge trim into the Northeast's margin anymore. They recorded the next 14 points to lift the Tigers to a 70-59 advantage with 12:20 remaining in the contest.
Northeast's defense was phenomenal over the final 10 minutes of the matchup. The Bears connected on just four field goals and was outscored by the Tigers 28-15 during that span.
Antonio Dodson's jumper from long distance gave Northeast a comfortable 83-62 lead with under eight minutes showing on the clock. Dashiell Franklin put an exclamation point on the victory with a two-handed breakaway slam dunk off a steal by Smith.
"We're a defensive team that can create some havoc and that jump starts our offense," Tigers head coach Cord Wright said. "I thought for our first game of the year we maintained that and played really hard."
Smith tallied 14 points for Northeast and was especially good at the free throw line. The Velma Jackson High School alumnus paced a team that totaled 31 points from the charity stripe with an 8 of 12 ledger on his attempts.
"We did a good job at the beginning of pushing the tempo," Smith said. "Our defense is our energy and backbone. We got our hands on some loose balls and were able to score some quick buckets."
Tray Lawson accounted for a double-double with 11 points and a game-best 12 rebounds. Leroy Buchanan and Sorrell barely missed double figures for the Tigers with nine points apiece.
Northeast's entire lineup was solid when shooting the rock. The Tigers (1-0) compiled outstanding percentages of 52.5 from the floor and 42.9 from behind the arc.
Bench personnel amassed 60 points for the Tigers compared to 33 for Baton Rouge. Northeast also forced the Bears into 31 turnovers and notched 36 points off those miscues.
It is the first time for the Tigers to reach 100 points in a single contest since defeating Northwest Mississippi Community College in double overtime last season. Northeast last passed the century mark in regulation on December 1, 2011 during a win on the road over the Rangers.
It was the inaugural victory over Baton Rouge in program history. The Bears swept the Tigers during a pair of matchups during the previous campaign in the only other roundball meetings between the schools.
The Tigers complete the Northeast Tipoff Classic on Tuesday, November 3 against Jones County Junior College. The women's affair begins at 5:30 p.m. with the men at approximately 7:30 p.m. inside historic Bonner Arnold Coliseum.
(W) Northwest 118, Jones County 112 (OT)
The Lady Rangers (1-0) claimed a wild contest in the tournament opener by outscoring the Lady Bobcats 15-9 in the extra session. Brianna Williams topped all scorers with 31 points for Northwest while Wendion Bibbins guided Jones County (0-1) with 28 points and 15 boards.
(M) Jones County 98, Northwest 92
The Bobcats (1-0) erased a halftime deficit with 14 points and nine rebounds from Andrew Riley. Tyrin Jones had a game-high 30 points on 11 of 23 shooting for the Rangers (0-1).