Pictured above-Charnise Mitchell of NEMCC goes up for the rebound at Bonner Arnold Coliseum on Monday night December 8, 2008

LADY TIGERS BULLY LADY BULLDOGS WHILE TIGERS BITEN IN OVERTIME

BOONEVILLE, Miss.-- Northeast Mississippi Community College men and women’s basketball teams were in action Monday night, December 8, at Bonner Arnold Coliseum where they faced the Bulldogs of Holmes Community College.

Northeast’s Lady Tigers opened up the action on the hardwood and quickly took a 17-9 lead after going on an 11-0 run at the 13:53-mark in the first half.

The Lady Tigers took control of the game early with solid defense, led by the Pre-Season All-American Eboni Crayton (McNairy Central H.S.), who created a transition bucket by blocking a shot and getting the ball quickly up court for the assist that put Northeast up 33-18 with 6:35 left in the half.

Holmes cut the 15-point lead Northeast to just 12 points before halftime 38-26 after draining a pair of three-point baskets before heading to the locker room.

It was all Northeast in the second half as Crayton came up with another blocked shot and assist on the evening when she passed the ball ahead to Rumae Butler (Belmont H.S.) who took the ball to the hoop for a layup putting Northeast up by 22, 65-42 with 8:23 left to play in the game.

 “I think we have been getting better as a team and we have been getting better each game, if we keep working hard we will just keep getting better”, said Butler.

Monday night’s performance versus the Lady Bulldogs was an impressive team effort as the Lady Tigers (5-5) bullied the Bulldogs (4-4) with a final score of 85-59.

On the men’s side of the court the Tigers (6-5) faced a tough Bulldog (8-3) team in the nightcap.

Northeast came out strong early taking a 14-6 lead with 9:32 showing on the clock, but Holmes proved its resilience as it battled back into the physical low-scoring game to take the lead 21-20 with 3:45 left in the first half.

Tiger forward Chris Gamble (Meridian H.S.) tied the game at 21-21 after hitting one of two free throws with two minutes to go. The two teams would then trade a pair of buckets to go into the locker room knotted up 23-all.

In the second half, both teams continued to play hard and physical down the stretch.

Northeast could not find its offensive rhythm in the second half as the Tigers ended the final nine minutes of the half with only four field goals – including none during a 5:32-span that saw the two teams swap the lead five different times.

With only 1:40 left in regulation and the score tied at 55-all, sophomore guard Andre Southern (Yazoo County H.S.) missed two free throws but sophomore guard Doc Johnson (Ripley H.S.) redeemed his teammate with a steal after Holmes got the rebound on the missed free throws.

Johnson nailed a clutch layup with 56 seconds left to put the Tigers up 57-55. 

The events that took place next were exciting to say the least as Southern found redemption from his previously missed free throws and drove hard to the basket for the bucket and the foul. 

Southern cashed in on the three-point play hitting his free throw making the score 60-55 with only 23 seconds remaining on the clock.

Holmes Gabe Osagie quickly nailed a three-pointer with 19 seconds left to play to cut the Tiger lead to just two points 60-58. After the big bucket by Osagie, Holmes stole the inbound pass and scored another quick bucket when James Archie tipped in a missed shot with 12.7 seconds left to tie the score up and force overtime.

In overtime, the two teams battled back and forth for the lead the entire five minutes but the game once again came down to the final seconds. 

Leading by two (70-68) with 42.2 seconds left, the Bulldogs tried to seal the game at the free throw line. 

After hitting 1-of-2 to make the score 71-68, Holmes almost handed Northeast the win following Southern’s 18-foot jumper with 10 seconds remaining. The Bulldogs were whistled for a traveling violation before reaching midcourt with 5.7 ticks to go.

However, Tigers guard John Sexton (West Union H.S.) was called for a travel violation the ensuing play and turned the ball over to Holmes. 

Northeast was forced to foul the Bulldogs stop the clock with only 1.2 seconds left in overtime.

Holmes would take the final “Bulldog bite” as it nailed two free throws to seal the victory on a final score of 73-70.

Northeast’s men and women will be back in action on Saturday, December 13, when the face-off against Co-Lin. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. for the Lady Tigers and 3 p.m. for the Tigers.

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