BOONEVILLE, Miss. –Tadarius Coburn's energy sparked the Tigers to a second half rally over the Itawamba Community College Indians at Bonner Arnold Coliseum on Thursday night.
Coburn finished the game with 14 points and 12 rebounds to go along with three assists and two blocks in the Tigers' exciting one-point victory against the Indians 75-74.
"This felt really, really good . . . I mean I felt like we had to win because it is a rivalry game and this was my last chance to play against them, so this was a big win for us as a team," said Coburn.
Tyler Brunson, who added 15 points and eight boards, helped finish off the second half comeback with a jump shot in the lane with 4.5 seconds left to put Northeast on top. Seconds later . . . ICC's Quintin Lee's heave to the basket from half court just missed the mark as the buzzer sounded -- much to the delight of the home crowd.
"I am really proud of these guys, I mean after the first half they could have just laid down but they didn't," said NEMCC's head coach David Robbins. "They found the passion and the will to just keep fighting and it was really fun to watch them pick up this big win for us."
With the big win, the Tigers moved to 8-8 overall and 3-4 in the north division while the Indians dropped to 6-10, 1-6 respectively.
Acie Vance was the top scorer for Northeast with 16 points hitting on 5-for-6 from the free throw line to help propel the Tigers. Lee led the Indians with 19 points followed by 14 from Chris Harris.
In the opener, Coach Brian Alexander's Lady Tigers' came out running in the first half taking a one-point lead into the halftime break 27-26. However, the Lady Indians had too much fire power in the second frame outscoring Northeast 36-22 to pull off the 62-49 victory.
LaTonya Gadison and Angelia Allen both scored 11 points for the Lady Tigers while the Lady Indians were led by Ty-nita Baker's game-high 16 point effort.
Itawamba's Lady Indians (12-6, 6-1) took command of the first place spot in the north division with the win and gets the sweep of the Lady Tigers (9-7, 5-2) on the year.
Northeast is now tied for second place with the Northwest Mississippi Community College Lady Rangers (14-4, 5-2) and will travel to Senatobia on Monday, February 4 for another north division showdown.
Coach Alexander's ladies will tip off at 5 p.m. while Coach Robbins and crew are set to follow in the nightcap against the Rangers, who are atop the division at 12-4 overall and 5-2 in the north.