EMCC Lions to face Gulf Coast in Thursday's quarterfinals of NJCAA Region 23 hoops tourney in Clinton

SCOOBA – The seventh-seeded Lions of East Mississippi Community College will take on No. 2 seed Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College Thursday at 6 p.m. in quarterfinal-round men's action of the NJCAA Region 23 Basketball Tournament to be held next week (March 2-5) at Mississippi College in Clinton.

With women's tournament action set to tip off Wednesday followed by men's opening-round play on Thursday, the four-day tournament will be held at A.E. Wood Coliseum on the Mississippi College campus.  Semifinal-round action takes place Friday with championship games set for 6 p.m. (women) and 8 p.m. (men) on Saturday.       

Coach Billy Begley's 18-7 EMCC Lions most recently split a pair of games earlier in this week at the MACJC State Basketball Tournament held at Itawamba Community College.  As the No. 4 seed out of the MACJC's North Division, the EMCC men claimed an 80-73 quarterfinal-round win over reigning state champion and MACJC South No. 1 seed Pearl River Monday in Fulton before dropping a 61-59 decision to eventual state tourney champion Southwest Mississippi in Wednesday's semifinals.

Guided by head coach Wendell Weathers, the Bulldogs of Mississippi Gulf Coast are 19-6 overall after also falling in the state semifinals earlier this week at ICC's Davis Event Center.  Coming into the state tournament as the MACJC South's No. 4 seed, Gulf Coast knocked off MACJC North regular-season champion Holmes, 100-88, before falling to eventual state runner-up Jones County, 95-93, in double overtime.

The eight-team men's regional tournament field is comprised of the eight NJCAA Region 23 members, which includes the states of Mississippi and Louisiana, with the highest regular-season winning percentages in regional play.   

Dating back to the 2008-09 season under the direction of former EMCC men's coach Mark White, now at Tallahassee Community College, the East Mississippi Lions own a 15-3 composite record in NJCAA Region 23 Tournament play, including four consecutive region tournament men's titles and four straight NJCAA Tournament appearances in Hutchinson, Kansas that spanned the 2009-10 and 2012-13 campaigns.  Begley, who spent the prior two seasons serving as an assistant coach on Phil Cunningham's Troy University staff, was previously White's assistant coach at EMCC during the 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons.      

Most recently in men's regional action, the EMCC Lions fell in the Region 23 semifinals both last year to Pearl River (67-62) and the previous season to the eventual NJCAA National Champion Jones County Bobcats (73-72 in OT).    

In men's other quarterfinal-round regional tournament action Thursday in Clinton, No. 4 seed Jones County will face fifth-seeded Northwest Mississippi at noon, while top-seeded and reigning region champion Holmes takes on No. 8 seed Northeast Mississippi at 2 p.m.  The winner of the EMCC-MGCCC contest will meet the winner of Thursday's 8 p.m. game pitting No. 3 seed Southern-Shreveport and sixth-seeded Pearl River.

Coach Sharon Thompson's EMCC Lady Lions did not make the eight-team women's regional tournament field and finished the 2015-16 season with a 13-9 overall record.