11/07//08

TIGERS OUTCLAW THE COUGARS IN HOME OPENER

BOONEVILLE, Miss.-- Northeast Mississippi Community College men’s basketball team improved their record to 3-1 overall with a 90-85 win over the Lawson State Cougars on Thursday, November 6, 2008.

Lawson State came in to Bonner Arnold Coliseum undefeated, but the Tigers made sure it would not leave Booneville that way as the Cougars dropped to 2-1 after the loss to Northeast.

The Tigers never trailed in Thursday night’s home opener and out-clawed the visiting Cougars the entire night by running the floor and putting up forty-three points by the end of the first half, leading at halftime 43-34.

In the second half, Northeast would hold off a pair of rally attempts by Lawson State. One of those came at the 9:55 mark as the Cougars cut the lead to seven at 64-57.  But the Tigers halted the push and increased their lead back to nine points at the seven minute mark at 69-60.

The last Cougar rally attempt came late in the game when they trimmed the Tiger lead to 82-80 with only 1:43 left in the game.

The Tigers sealed the victory when team high scorer sophomore John Sexton’s nailed a pair of free throws, making the final score 90-85.  Sexton finished the game with 26 points.

Tiger Head Coach David Robbins was pleased with his team performance. 

“I am extremely proud to get this win and we are making strides at getting better,” Robbins said.  “We still have several areas we need to work on.  We are having a lot of trouble defending the dribble right now, but we are off too a good start.

“We have two tough teams coming up next week, so we need to continue to make strides and continue playing hard the rest of the way.”

Northeast men and women will face-off against Southwest on November 10 at the Northwest Tournament.

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Northwest Tournament Schedule for the Tigers and Lady Tigers:

Monday, November 10

(W) NEMCC-Southwest, 1 p.m.

(M) NEMCC-Southwest, 3 p.m.

Tuesday, November 11

(W) NEMCC-Shorter College, 1

(M) NEMCC-Shorter College, 3

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