Pictured above- Miranda Phillips a 5'11" freshman forward from Water Valley fights for a loose ball in Wesson, Miss., against the Wolves of Copiah-Lincoln on January 5, 2009.

A PACK OF WOLVES PROVE TOO MUCH FOR TIGERS

BOONEVILLE, Miss.-- Northeast Mississippi Community College men and women’s basketball teams were in action Monday, January 6, in Wesson, Miss., where they faced the Copiah-Lincoln Community College Wolves.

The Tigers fell to 7-6 overall after a one point loss to the Wolves while the Lady Tigers dropped to 5-6 on the year losing to the Lady Wolves by 45 points.

Northeast’s Lady Tigers faced a tough team on Monday night in Co-Lin, as the Lady Wolves brought a record of 11-1 into the match-up with their only loss on the year coming against Mississippi Delta back in 2008. 

This was the first game for the Lady Tigers in 2009 after returning from the holiday break and the rust was obvious, as Northeast only shot seven-of-25 in from the floor (28-percent field goal percentage) and went 0-for-4 from behind the arc in the first half.  The score at halftime was clearly in favor of the Lady Wolves 45-24.

In the second half the Lady Wolves continued to dominate the hardwood led by Latoria Holder, who was nine-of-11 from the floor and had a game high 19 points on the evening. 

Northeast high scorer was Kailie Montgomery a 5’8” freshman forward from Belmont, Miss., who came off the bench to score eight points for the Lady Tigers. 

Coach Ricky Ford’s team finished 18-of-64 (28-percent field goal percentage) and 0-for-15 from downtown as the Lady Wolves proved to be too much for Northeast forcing 30 turnovers and claiming an 83-38 victory.

In the nightcap, the Tigers faired better than the ladies losing a hard fought game that came down to the final seconds and a John Sexton 40-footer to decide the game.

Co-lin’s Wolves took control of the first half by shooting 58-percent from the floor and making five-of-seven free throws (71-percent) that gave them a 10 point lead heading into the locker room at half time 36-26.

Coach David Robbins Tigers rallied in the second half trailing for most of the game until the 5:35 mark of the second half, when Andre Southern came up with a steal and went coast-to-coast for the lay-up and put the Tigers up by one-point 53-52.

Southern finished with 18 points on the evening for Northeast and was four-of-six at the charity stripe while doing all he could to push his team to victory. 

But unfortunately, it was not enough for the Tigers as the clocked ticked down to the final seconds with only six seconds left in the game and Northeast on top 59-58, Co-lin took the inbound pass and went the full length of the floor and straight to the basket for a lay-up to take a 60-59 led with two seconds left on the clock. 

After a thirty second time-out by Robbins, Northeast had the length of the court to travel and Chris Gambles inbound pass went to Sexton who fired up the half-court shot that fell short and the Tigers lost on a final score of 60-59.

Northeast will look to rebound from the tough road trip losses as they get ready to tip-off against Mississippi Delta for a North Division match-up on January 8, 2009 in Moorhead, Mississippi.

Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. for the Lady Tigers and 8 p.m. for the Tigers.

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