JACKSON – Jones College head men's basketball coach Newton Mealer has achieved another milestone.
 
Mealer is the Region 23/Gulf District Coach of the Year for a third straight time after guiding the Bobcats to a third straight region championship. The winner of the region is the automatic recipient of the award. 
 
The Bobcats defeated homestanding Itawamba 102-96 in overtime on March 12 for the region title. It was the first time for an MACCC school to win three straight region titles since East Mississippi won four in a row in 2009-13.
 
The Bobcats made an unprecedented third straight appearance in the NJCAA Division I Tournament where they fell to No. 24 Daytona State on March 21. Jones finished the season at 24-10.

Mealer became the fastest Bobcat head coach to reach 100 wins earlier in the season when Jones defeated Lawson State 91-74 on Dec. 2.
 
The Bobcats are 115-40 (.742) in Mealer's five years as head coach and 81-21 over the last three seasons.
 
He has led Jones to two MACCC championships and three region crowns during his tenure.
 
Mealer, the 17th head men's basketball coach in school history, coached at Center Hill High School for 12 years before coming to Jones.
 
He played at Southern Miss under longtime coach M.K. Turk from 1989-93.