ELLISVILLE – Jones College whipped Northeast 86-62 in the opening round of the Region 23 Tournament here Monday night at A.B. Howard Gymnasium.
 
The Bobcats (15-10) will advance to the region semifinals with a 6 p.m. Wednesday contest at MACCC champion Copiah-Lincoln. The Wolves are on an 11-game winning streak.
 
Jones trailed 16-9 with 14:40 left in the first half after Northeast's Keithean Brooks made two free throws.
 
The Bobcats then held the Tigers to only one made field goal over the next 11 minutes to take control. 
 
With the game tied at 21-21, Zandon Haralson (Center Hill) hit back-to-back three-pointers to put Jones up 27-21 with 7:48 left in the opening half. The Bobcats would never trail again.
 
Jones would lead 42-27 at halftime as they outscored the Tigers 33-11 over the final 14:40 of the half.
 
Jalin Rice made a free throw to open the second half for Northeast to make it 42-28, but the Tigers would get no closer. A Jay Barnes (Oak Grove) layup gave the Bobcats their biggest of the night at 84-58 with 2:12 to play.
 
Caleb McGill (Petal) topped the Bobcats with 22 points. He also had five rebounds, three assists, two blocks and two steals. Treylan Smith (Petal) had 12 points, five rebounds and three assists. Daquarius Harris (Memphis, Tennessee) had 11 points, six rebounds and two blocks. Ashton Campbell (Forrest County AHS) had 10 points, seven rebounds, two assists and two steals. Barnes ended the game with eight points and four assists.
 
The Bobcats shot the ball exceptionally well, connecting on 34-of-59 shots for 58 percent. They made 7-of-19 from beyond the arc for 37 percent and hit on 11-of-16 free throws.
 
Brooks led Northeast with 26 points. Corey Stephenson added 14 points and 10 rebounds and Rice had 13 points.
 
The Bobcats limited Northeast to a 22-of-67 night from the floor for just 33 percent. Northeast was only 2-of-19 from three-point range for 11 percent and made 16-of-24 foul shots.
 
The Bobcats held a 41-35 edge in rebounds.
 
The winner of the Jones/Co-Lin game heads to Mississippi College on Saturday for the Region 23 semifinals. Co-Lin defeated the Bobcats 76-74 in Ellisville on Jan. 19.
 
Northeast ends its season at 16-11.