PICTURED ABOVE -WILLIAM BURDETTE GOES UP FOR THE TWO HANDED SLAM DUNK AGAINST SOUTHWEST COMMUNITY COLLEGE IN SENATOBIA, MISS., IN THE NORTHWEST TOURNEY

11/12//08

TIGERS CLEAN-UP IN NORTHWEST TOURNEY

BOONEVILLE, Miss.-- Northeast Mississippi Community College men’s and women’s basketball swept through the Northwest Tournament on November 10-11, 2008 in Senatobia, Miss.

On Monday November 10, the Lady Tigers tipped the day off with a 79-76 win over the Southwest Lady Bears.  

The victory did not come easy however, as the lead bounced back in forth in the second half on several occasions.  One of those occasions came late in the second half as the clock struck the 45 second mark, the Lady Tigers found themselves only up by one point leading 75-74.

After a time-out by head coach Ricky Ford, Northeast’s Al’Lisha Hudson was fouled and miss two free-throws with 21 seconds left in the game. 

Only seconds later, Eboni Crayton, who finished with 34 points on the day, was fouled on the rebound and went to the line and nailed her two free shots. A few seconds later and another rebound later Hudson found herself back at the charity stripe, but this time she nailed her free throws and helped seal the deal for Northeast.

Coach Ford said, “I thought we picked it up a notch in the second half and played with a lot of intensity and although we struggled offensively, we did better tonight and I am glad for the win.”

The men followed up with a hard fought victory against Southwest with the final score of 85-57. 

In the first half the Tigers had a hard time outscoring their opponent but never trialed in the half.

At the 8:50 mark in the first half, sophomore forward William Burdette threw down a monster two-hand slam dunk to spark the Tigers as they would close out the half leading by ten points with a score of 38-28.

Northeast came out in the second half firing away and never looked back.  With only eight minutes left to play in the game the Tigers pushed their lead to 28 points 71-43, and won by the same margin of 28 points.

The top scorers were in the game against Southwest for Northeast was, William Burdette who had 18 points, Andre Southern had 13 points, and John Sexton ended his night with 12 points.

On Tuesday November 11, the Lady Tigers opened up the day facing off against Shorter College, from Arkansas.  The Lady Bulldogs from Arkansas only had five players on their roster and were no match for Coach Ford’s full court press and fully loaded roster. 

Along with some good shooting and solid defense, the “press was put to rest” as Northeast was leading by 35 points with 2:36 left in the first half.

Shots were fired in the second half at random, as Northeast rained downed shots that would eventually lead them past the century mark for the first time this season.  Kailie Montgomery, a freshman forward from Belmont, Mississippi drained the bucket that pushed the ladies past 100 at the 6:00 mark to make the score 101-40.

The final score was 116-48 and the Lady Tigers were led by Eboni Crayton who finished with 25 points and Ranisha Williams who had 15 points on the day. 

The win closed out the tournament for the girls putting them at 2-0 for the two-day event.

Shorter College brought a good looking men’s team to Senatobia, but they were not good enough to stop the Tigers led by head coach David Robbins. 

Northeast would go on a 17-0 run early in the first half and led 21-4 with 13:28 left in the first half. 

The Bulldogs slowly closed that gap on the Tiger lead, and at the four minute mark cut into the lead with a score of 38-22.  Shorter College continued to slice into the Tiger lead as the half came to a close with the Tigers leading 43-29.

In the second half the Bulldogs defense put the clamps downed and closed to within eight points at 48-40 with 15:54 left in the half. 

But Northeast fought back and pushed the lead back to 14 with a score of 54-40 with 13:45 left to play and put an end to the Bulldog rally.

Northeast’s defense stepped up to the occasion to help end the rally, and were led by sophomore forward Charles Mitchell from Marion, Louisiana who had a “block party” and ended the game with six blocks on the night.

As Mitchell snuffed out shots, John Sexton drained shots on the offensive end for Northeast and led the Tigers in scoring on the day with 23 points.  Andre Southern and William Burdette finished with 16 points and the Tigers came away with an 85-65 victory. 

The victory gave the Tigers a clean sweep in the tournament.

The Tigers are now gearing up for the next game on the road against Lawson State in Birmingham, Ala.  Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Both the Tigers and Lady Tigers will return to Bonner Arnold Coliseum Thursday, November 20 to take on East Central.  Tip-time for the women’s game is set for 6 p.m. and the Tigers hit the hardwood at approximately 8 p.m.

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