Ellisville, Miss. – The Northeast Mississippi Community College men's basketball program broke up the shutout that south half schools were pitching in the Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges (MACJC) State Tournament.
The Tigers became the first team from the North Division on either the men's or women's side to win their first round contest with an 86-69 victory over East Central Community College on Tuesday, February 28 at Jones County Junior College's A.B. Howard Gymnasium.
Northeast (18-6) advances to the state semifinals for the second time in the last three seasons. The Tigers match up with Southwest Mississippi Community College, who eliminated Itawamba Community College in its opening game, at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, March 1 in Ellisville.
"We came out early and got the little jitters out in the first two or three minutes and then we got rolling," said Tigers head coach Cord Wright. "I'm proud of the way we stuck with it for 40 minutes. I thought we played very, very unselfish and together."
Northeast's Darius Williams accounted for the first five points of the contest, but that proved to be the largest lead for either team in what turned into a back-and-forth initial 10 minutes.
Shunn Buchanan pushed the Tigers ahead for good with 9:47 remaining before halftime on an old-fashioned three-point play. That sparked perhaps Northeast's hottest stretch of the entire game.
The Tigers compiled an 11-0 run to expand their advantage to double-digits. Conner McKay knocked down a pair of treys while Williams also connected from long distance to make the score 31-19 in favor of Northeast at the 6:17 mark.
Zach Hudson threw down a rim shattering left-handed dunk moments later off a lob from Leroy Buchanan. Kendarius Smith closed the period with a three-pointer that allowed the Tigers to take a 49-31 lead into the locker room.
McKay was a catalyst to Northeast's phenomenal start. The Baldwyn High School graduate tallied all 13 of his points in the first half, including two nice running layups and a trio of makes from beyond the arc as well.
"I got in a good groove there," McKay said. "My teammates have confidence in me and that's always good. They tell me to shoot it. I was just playing my game and being aggressive."
The Tigers, who entered the postseason as the MACJC North Division champion, took their largest advantage of the entire afternoon just over one minute into the second at 54-31 following five straight points from the brothers Buchanan and Williams.
However, the Warriors (14-10) quickly made things interesting with a 16-0 spurt that lasted nearly four minutes. East Central had cut its deficit to single digits by the time Kendall Stafford's layup snapped Northeast's drought.
The Warriors came as close as two possessions to the Tigers after Jaylon Bardley's jumper with 11:02 to go. But back-to-back buckets by Smith and Stafford lifted Northeast ahead by double figures once again.
Shunn Buchanan then pieced together a personal 7-0 run that gave Northeast some extra breathing room late in the matchup. It started at the charity stripe and concluded with a trey that was assisted by McKay.
The former Dandy Dozen selection by The Clarion-Ledger finished with a game-high 26 points. Buchanan was 10-of-15 from the floor overall and also racked up a team-best seven assists.
"It was a good team win," said Buchanan. "I like the way everybody played. Our bench came out with aggression and we just got the job done. We've got to keep our foot on the gas and don't let up."
The Tigers placed five athletes in double-digits. Murray State (Ky.) University signee Leroy Buchanan followed his younger brother with 14 points while Stafford and Williams chipped in 10 points apiece.
Northeast had over 15 dimes as a unit for the seventh contest in a row with 19 total. The Tigers outscored East Central 26-21 in points off turnovers and 30-24 on points in the paint.
"Our sophomores are playing the way they need to play," Wright said. "They're tough kids that have been through this. They've been down. They've been up and they keep fighting."
Northeast meets the defending state champion Bears (17-7) for the first time since the opening game of the 2014-15 campaign. The Tigers were victorious in that matchup by an 88-72 margin inside legendary Bonner Arnold Coliseum.