Booneville, Miss. - Northeast Mississippi Community College's basketball programs have the chance to increase their positioning inside the Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges (MACJC) North Division standings this week in front its hometown fans.
The Lady Tigers and Tigers meet Mississippi Delta Community College on Monday, February 2 before Northwest Mississippi Community College visits historic Bonner Arnold Coliseum three days later.
The doubleheader versus the Lady Trojans and Trojans is presented through the 6th Man Club by the United States Army while the Corinth Coca-Cola Bottling Works and Domino's Pizza are co-sponsors for Thursday's rivalry matchups. The women's bout starts on both nights at 5:30 p.m. with the men tipping 20 minutes after the conclusion of the lid lifter.
A full evening of activities on Thursday begins when the Lady Tigers participate in their inaugural Pink Out Game against Northwest. Everybody is encouraged to wear pink items of clothing in support of breast cancer awareness.
In addition, Northeast legends Bonner Arnold and Ricky Ford will be recognized between contests for being selected to join the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Hall of Fame as part of the 2015 class.
Those that cannot attend the matchups can watch them live on NEMCCTV, which is the new broadcast home of all nine Northeast intercollegiate athletic programs. Join Jeremy Kennedy, the Voice of the Tigers, at 5:15 p.m. for the pregame show by visiting www.nemcctv.com.
Fans can also keep up with all the action using live in-game updates on Twitter by searching and following @NEMCCTigers.
Northeast recently concluded its best January since recording a 7-2 ledger during the 2007-08 campaign. The Tigers were 6-1 last month with their only setback on the road at East Mississippi Community College.
The loss to the Lions also broke an eight-game winning streak by Northeast, which was its longest such stretch since claiming seven straight victories to open the 2011-12 season.
"We're feeling good right now," said Tigers headman Cord Wright. "We put together a good month and by doing that we've given ourselves some momentum coming down the back stretch of division play."
Dimario Jackson has been a major factor for Northeast during their success this year. The reigning MACJC Player of the Week averages 19 points per outing and is ninth in the country with an 86.8 percent mark from the free throw line.
Raheem Sorrell returned to his dominant form against East Mississippi with 21 points and a game-high eight rebounds. He and fellow Corinth native Dexter Stafford are the Tigers' top threats in the post with a combined 11.5 boards each contest.
Mississippi Delta heads to Booneville after an 83-60 loss to nationally ranked Southwest Tennessee Community College. Travon Harper tallied 21 points to lift the Trojans (8-9, 4-2) to a triumph over Northeast in their previous meeting in December.
Sharwyn McGee has started each matchup for the Rangers (8-8, 2-5) and averages team-bests of 12.8 points and 8.4 rebounds. De'Sean Dockery adds 12.1 points and 1.7 steals for Northwest.
The Lady Tigers are also in need of a few more wins in order to qualify for the upcoming MACJC State Tournament. They look to take steps towards securing that berth inside their own arena.
"This is a big week for us," Northeast head coach Brian Alexander said. "This is the only time throughout division schedule that we have back-to-back home games."
The combination of Harper Newell and Bridgejae Patterson have helped the Lady Tigers dominate the offensive glass. Northeast, with Newell and Patterson guiding its efforts, are 27th in the NJCAA and second in the Magnolia State with 17.2 offensive rebounds per contest.
LaKeiya Lane guides the Lady Tigers from the guard position with 11.3 points while Dashyiah Agnew has a team-high 2.7 assists. Jasmine Allen remains the top free throw shooter in the MACJC with a percentage of 84.1.
Niya Head is a force in the paint for Mississippi Delta (6-11, 2-4). She puts together solid statistics of 15 points and 6.8 boards each outing while Aqueshia Kimble also accounts for 7.4 rebounds.
Austin Peay State (Tenn.) University transfer Aspriona Gilbert paces the Lady Rangers (15-3, 5-2) with 16.6 points and 7.8 boards. Sara Lytle rounds out the double-digit scorers for Northwest with 10.8.
Northeast split with both Mississippi Delta and Northwest in their initial encounters of the 2014-15 campaign. The Lady Tigers captured a victory in Moorhead while the Tigers won a thrilling double overtime affair in Senatobia.