Baton Rouge, La. - Leroy Buchanan helped the Northeast Mississippi Community College men's basketball program overcome its first huge challenge during the inaugural road doubleheader of the campaign.
Buchanan made several key plays in overtime for the Tigers during a 68-64 victory over region foe Baton Rouge (La.) Community College on Thursday, November 12 at the Bonne Sante Wellness Center.
The Bears took a temporary 64-62 advantage in the extra session following a shot from Demetrius Fitzpatrick. But Baton Rouge was held scoreless by Northeast over the final 2:59 with four missed field goals and three turnovers in that stretch.
A basket from Buchanan brought the game into a stalemate at the 1:35 mark. Desmin Harris then connected on a jumper from the free throw line moments later for what turned out to be the winning points for the Tigers.
Tajae Anderson had a chance to give the Bears a lead once again, but his three-point attempt rimmed out. Buchanan grabbed the defensive rebound and made two shots from the charity stripe after he was fouled to clinch the triumph for Northeast.
"I'm excited for our freshmen to get a taste of what it's like," said Tigers headman Cord Wright. "Our sophomores know the grind. I'm proud of the way that they stuck with it, guarded and found a way to win a tough one."
Northeast gained its initial advantage with 14:10 showing on the clock during the opening half on a Davon Hayes bucket. The University of Southern Mississippi transfer then drained a trey to cap a quick run of seven unanswered points by the Tigers and push them ahead 13-7.
Back-to-back makes by Raheem Sorrell gave Northeast its largest lead of the entire matchup at 20-11 with 8:07 left until the intermission. Kendarius Smith's field goal allowed the Tigers to enter the locker room with a 32-30 advantage.
The second half was a back-and-forth battle with neither squad leading by more than two possessions. Northeast was the last team to reach that great of an advantage following a Harris shot from long distance with 5:17 remaining in regulation.
Two clutch free throws from Buchanan broke a tie with six seconds to go. But a Fitzpatrick jumper from just inside the three-point line as the horn was about to sound extended the contest for five more minutes.
Buchanan set a new career-high with 23 points to pace all scorers in the matchup. The Madison Central High School graduate added six rebounds, two blocks and two steals on the evening for the Tigers.
"I was feeling it the whole game. My confidence was high so I knew they were going in," Buchanan said. "Their defense started keying on me later in the game so our other guys got open and made some big shots."
Sorrell recorded the best performance to date of his sophomore year. The reigning Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges (MACJC) All-State selection had 14 points and eight boards in the post for Northeast.
"I have to go out there, play hard, rebound, be as physical as I can and make sure to box out. I had success with that this game," said Sorrell. "It was a good effort from everybody. We got this win because we all played together."
Hayes barely missed double figures with nine points off the pine for the Tigers, who outscored Baton Rouge 25-4 in bench points. Tray Lawson was solid as well with a game-best 14 rebounds, including 11 on the defensive side of the floor.
Northeast (3-1) grabbed over 50 boards as a team for the second consecutive outing. The Tigers also forced the Bears (0-5) into 24 turnovers and transitioned those miscues into 16 points.
(W) Northeast 83, Baton Rouge 78
Christy Clark lifted the Lady Tigers to their second straight victory with a dynamic fourth quarter. The New Site High School alumnus accounted for 11 of her career-high 14 points during that decisive period.
"I tried to just block everything out so it's me looking at the goal and pretending like I'm in practice," Clark said. "I'm very happy. I knew that we need to score and it was a crucial time. I did what I needed to do."
A competitive final quarter saw four lead changes and several ties between the two squads. Free throws by Amber Smith and Terriel Ross gave the Lady Bears (3-4) a 70-69 advantage with 1:59 remaining in the competition.
Northeast (2-1) responded quickly when Clark rebounded her own miss and put it back in the hoop. She then completed an old-fashioned three-point play to move the Lady Tigers ahead by two possessions.
Baton Rouge cut its deficit to as close as 76-74 with less than one minute to go following a Pearl Jones bucket. But Northeast sealed the triumph by hitting eight of nine tries from the charity stripe over the last two minutes of the contest.
"When they came off the floor, they were really overwhelmed," Lady Tigers head coach Brenda Mayes said. "I told the young ladies that the things that happened in this game tonight are going to be beneficial to us in the end and they agreed."
Two free throws from Kasey Sparks brought the matchup into a deadlock at 16-16, but Shelby Dixon's make as time expired pushed the Lady Bears in front by two points at the conclusion of the first quarter.
Northeast used an 8-1 spurt to take a 40-34 lead at the break. Dashiyah Agnew and V'lenchia Farmer had field goals during that stretch while the combination of Clark and Sparks were perfect on four free shot attempts.
Shelby Wilbanks opened the second half with a pair of baskets that allowed the Lady Tigers to take their biggest advantage at 44-34. But Ross made a two layups within a span of 15 seconds to trim Northeast's lead to 53-50 after the third period.
Wilbanks completed a phenomenal week for the Lady Tigers by topping all scorers with 24 points. The Walnut native was 9 of 17 from the floor and notched seven rebounds as well from the center position.
Bridgejae Patterson and Farmer both came close to a double-double for Northeast. Patterson had 11 boards to go with eight points while Farmer misfired on just one of her eight field goal attempts to finish with 14 points and eight rebounds.
Agnew reached double figures in assists for the initial time during her outstanding career on the Booneville campus with 10 on the dot. The Lady Tigers held a plus-10 margin on the boards as well over Baton Rouge.
Northeast had 17 offensive rebounds as a unit and turned that into 16 second chance points. Each team utilized their players in the post with a combined 96 points in the paint between the Lady Tigers and Lady Bears.
It is the inaugural sweep for Northeast at Baton Rouge in program history. The Lady Tigers and Tigers both lost during their first ever trip to the capital city of the Pelican State one season ago.
Northeast returns home on Tuesday, November 17 to welcome Volunteer State (Tenn.) Community College. The action begins at 5:30 p.m. with the women's affair from legendary Bonner Arnold Coliseum.