Fulton, Miss. – The Northeast Mississippi Community College men's basketball program is feeling a bit of déjà vu as it prepares for the start of the postseason.
The Tigers face Jones County Junior College in the quarterfinals of the Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges (MACJC) State Tournament for the second consecutive year. Tipoff is slated for 8 p.m. on Monday, December 22 on the campus of Itawamba Community College.
Those that cannot attend Northeast's games in the tournament can watch live on NEMCCTV. Join Jeremy Kennedy, the Voice of the Tigers, 15 minutes prior to tipoff for comprehensive coverage by visiting www.nemcctv.com on any computer, smartphone or tablet.
Search and follow @NEMCCTigers on Twitter for live in-game updates and interact throughout the competition by using the hashtag #TigerPower across all social media platforms.
Northeast finished in third place in the MACJC North Division with a 7-5 mark inside conference play. It will be the initial neutral site matchup of the campaign for the Tigers, who are 15-8 overall.
The Bobcats are the MACJC South Division co-champion with Pearl River Community College. Jones County (15-6) lost the tiebreaker to the Wildcats after losing both games in their rivalry series and is a two-seed.
These two teams met earlier this season during the Northeast Tipoff Classic with the Bobcats capturing a come-from-behind 86-84 victory. The Tigers eliminated Jones County, which was then the reigning national champions, in the MACJC State Tournament last year using a 67-62 decision.
"We've played them, so we know what to expect. We're looking to kinda get some revenge on them," said Northeast head coach Cord Wright. "We're familiar with them both offensively and defensively. They're really talented with a good mixture of sophomores and freshmen that have come along this year."
The Tigers look to build their scoring around the tandem of Leroy Buchanan and Wesley Harris. Both student-athletes are averaging double figures at the conclusion of the regular season.
Harris has reached double-digits in all but one contest that he has participated in during his inaugural campaign in the City of Hospitality. He scored 25 points, which was one shy of his career-high, in his most recent outing against Holmes Community College.
The Callaway High School graduate tops Northeast with 17.8 points, 7.9 rebounds and 0.7 blocks per game. Harris has accumulated percentages of 46.8 from the floor and 69.6 at the charity stripe.
Buchanan contributes 14.3 points for the Tigers and is the only player to earn the starting nod from Wright in all 23 matchups. He guides Northeast with two steals each outing and is second on the squad with 2.7 assists.
"We're feeling good about it and we're ready to get to it," Buchanan said. "We're going to have a lot of energy. Our main focus is on rebounding, defense and making free throws."
The Bobcats are stellar from the charity stripe themselves. They ranks seventh in the country with 20.5 made free throws each contest with four athletes compiling greater than 80-percent ledgers individually.
Bruce Stevens leads Jones County with 18.2 points per game. Rickey Holden scored a game-high 24 points during the meeting earlier this season while Buchanan paced the Tigers in that tilt with 20 points.
The other pairing on Northeast's side of the bracket is Holmes against Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, which is receiving votes in the latest National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) rankings.
The semifinals for both the women and men are scheduled for Wednesday, February 24 with the title matchups one night later starting at 6 p.m. inside the Davis Event Center.
"It's going to be really exciting," said Wright. "I've been told two or three times from different people that this is the best they've seen the league in 20 years from top to bottom. It's as wide open of a tournament as it's ever been."