Men's Basketball | 3/9/2017 1:36:00 AM
CLINTON – The 8th-ranked Jones County Junior College Bobcats held Holmes Community College without a field goal for almost nine minutes of the first half and defeated the Bulldogs 78-54 here Wednesday night in the first round of the Region 23 Tournament.
The Bobcats are now 26-1 and have won 14 consecutive games.
JCJC will now face Southwest in a 7:30 p.m. semifinal game on Thursday at the A.E. Wood Coliseum on the campus of Mississippi College.
Southwest edged Baton Rouge Community College (Louisiana) 62-61 in a bizarre game that ended with BRCC having three players on the court. They started the game with only seven players dressed and four fouled out. Still, Southwest had to score on a tip-in with .1 second left to win the game.
Mississippi Gulf Coast will meet Northeast at 5:30 p.m. in the other semifinal game. MGCCC beat Southern-Shreveport (Louisiana) 88-81 and Northeast downed East Central, 70-64.
The championship is set for 7:30 p.m. on Friday.
The winner of the tournament goes to the NJCAA Division I National Tournament March 20-25 in Hutchinson, Kansas.
Bobcats 78, Bulldogs 54
Maurice Dunlap (Amanda Elzy) and
Tristin Walley (Hattiesburg) hit 3-pointers to open the game. It would be JCJC's only 3-pointers of the game, but got the Bobcats off to a 6-0 start.
The Bobcats would take a 20-6 lead at the 8:50 mark of the first half when
Xavier Howard (Pearl) scored. Holmes got within 22-15 when Marquell Carter scored with 6:30 to play.
But JCJC would stretch the lead to 36-20 with 1:08 left when
Rickey Holden (Laurel) made a basket. The Bobcats led 36-22 at halftime and Holmes would get no closer than that in the second half.
Jones went ahead 46-28 with 17:07 remaining when
Bruce Stevens (Bay Springs) scored. Two
Enrique Milton (Jackson Provine) free throws made it 55-36 with 11:45 to play.
JCJC's longest lead would be 67-40 with 6:03 left when Stevens made two free throws. Holmes pulled within 67-47 with 4:04 remaining when Mikkel Norment hit a 3-pointer, but they would get no closer.
David Davis (Purvis) led a balanced Bobcat attack with 14 points, while Holden added 12 and Stevens finished with 11.
Norment was the only Bulldog in double figures with 11 points.
Holmes ends the season at 16-10.
Region 23 Tournament
Clinton
Mississippi College
A.E. Wood Coliseum
MEN
Wednesday's result
Jones County 78, Holmes 54
Holmes (16-10) 22 32 – 54
Jones County (26-1) 36 42 – 78
HOLMES (54) – Mikkel Norment 11, Trevais Spencer 9, Malik McNair 6, Marquell Carter 6, Stanley Williams 6, Justin Johnson 5, D'Michael Stribling 4, Jonah Simpson 3, Joshua Everette 3, Keyante Newell 1.
JONES COUNTY (78) – David Davis 14,
Rickey Holden 12,
Bruce Stevens 11,
Marsellis Purvis 8,
Andre Tieu 6,
Tristin Walley 5,
Enrique Milton 5,
Maurice Dunlap 5,
Leito Holloway 5,
Allen Rouse 2,
Falou Joof 2,
Xavier Howard 2,
Quentin Pough 1,
Kelvin Collins 0,
Omar Steele 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 games
Game 5, Mississippi Gulf Coast vs. Northeast, 5:30 p.m.
Game 6, Jones County vs. Southwest, 7:30 p.m.
Friday's game
Game 7, Championship, Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner, 7:30 p.m.
