Men's Basketball | 3/11/2017 1:53:00 AM
CLINTON – The No. 8 Jones County Junior College Bobcats are headed back to the NJCAA Division I National Tournament.
The Bobcats survived a missed 3-pointer at the buzzer and defeated Northeast 91-88 here Friday night in the Region 23 Tournament title game at A.E. Wood Coliseum.
JCJC won the championship in its only other national tournament appearance in 2014.
Earlier, the Lady Bobcats whipped Hinds, 86-67.
Both Bobcat teams are 28-1. The women's team has won 23 straight games, while the men's team is on a 16-game winning streak.
It is the first time since 1997-98 that two teams from the same school will make an appearance in the national tournaments. Northwest did it that season.
The NJCAA Division I Men's National Tournament will be March 20-25 at the Hutchinson Sports Arena in Hutchinson, Kansas.
The men's bracket will be released Tuesday.
All games in the tournaments will air on
www.njcaatv.com.
Friday night, it was a rematch of last week's MACJC championship game, which the Bobcats won, 77-52.
But this one was much closer.
JCJC led for the majority of the game, but Northeast had its chances late.
After
Rickey Holden (Laurel) scored with 2:44 left, the Bobcats led 87-81. Leroy Buchanan hit a 3-pointer to make it 87-84 with 2:27 to play.
Leroy Buchanan then scored on a dunk with 33.4 seconds remaining to bring the Tigers within 87-86.
Holden made two free throws with 18.6 seconds left to give JCJC an 89-86 lead.
Leroy Buchanan was then fouled attempting a 3-pointer with 10.1 seconds showing. He made two foul shots to make it 89-88.
Holden, who made 9-of-10 free throws, made two more with 8.2 seconds to play to give the Bobcats a 3-point lead.
The Tigers got the ball quickly downcourt and Shunn Buchanan's game-tying 3-pointer rimmed out at the buzzer and the Bobcats secured the victory.
JCJC jumped out to a 21-11 lead with 12:29 left in the first half when
Xavier Howard (Pearl) hit a jump shot.
Maurice Dunlap's (Amanda Elzy) drive to the goal gave JCJC its longest lead of the first half at 36-25 with 8:50 showing.
Northeast would tie the game at 36-36 at the 7:02 mark when Leroy Buchanan hit a 3-pointer.
But the Bobcats held the Tigers without a field goal the rest of the half. Dunlap's 3-pointer with 10 seconds left gave Jones a 49-40 halftime lead.
JCJC took its longest lead of the game with 13:24 left when Howard scored to make it 63-51.
But Northeast came back and tied it at 75-75 with 7:53 to play when Leroy Buchanan made another 3-pointer.
Holden led the Bobcats with 24 points, while
David Davis (Purvis) had 20.
Bruce Stevens (Bay Springs) had 15 points and 12 rebounds, while
Leito Holloway (Charlotte, North Carolina) had 10 points. Dunlap had 6 assists.
Holden and Davis were named to the All-Tournament team and head coach
Rahim Lockhart was named Region 23 Coach of the Year.
Leroy Buchanan led all scorers with 34 points, including six 3-pointers. Shunn Buchanan added 17 points and Kendarius Smith had 16.
The Bobcats were 32-of-74 from the floor, including 10-of-31 from 3-point range, for 43 percent. They were 17-of-20 from the free throw line.
The Tigers were 27-of-62 from the field, including 12-of-34 from 3-point range, for 44 percent. They were 22-of-25 from 3-point range.
The Bobcats outrebounded the Tigers, 43-36. JCJC committed 13 turnovers, compared to 12 for Northeast.
The Tigers end the season at 21-7.
Region 23 Tournament
Friday's game
Clinton
A.E. Wood Coliseum
MEN
Jones County 91, Northeast 88
Northeast (21-7) 40 48 – 88
Jones County (28-1) 49 42 – 91
NORTHEAST (88) – Leroy Buchanan 34, Shunn Buchaan 17, Kendarius Smith 16, Kendall Stafford 8, Zach Hudson 6, Darius Williams 5, Jerrell Bernard 2, Conner McKay 0, Bryce Smith 0, Marcus Summerville 0.
JONES COUNTY (91) –
Rickey Holden 24,
David Davis 20,
Bruce Stevens 15,
Leito Holloway 10,
Maurice Dunlap 5,
Xavier Howard 5,
Tristin Walley 4,
Enrique Milton 4,
Marsellis Purvis 4,
Andre Tieu 0.
Region 23 Tournament
Clinton
Mississippi College
A.E. Wood Coliseum
MEN
Wednesday's results
Game 1, Mississippi Gulf Coast 88, Southern-Shreveport (Louisiana) 81
Game 2, Northeast 70, East Central 64
Game 3, Southwest 62, Baton Rouge CC (Louisiana) 61
Game 4, Jones County 78, Holmes 54
Thursday's results
Game 5, Northeast 87, Mississippi Gulf Coast 73
Game 6, Jones County 72, Southwest 66
Friday's result
Game 7, Championship, Jones County 91, Northeast 88
