EMCC teams set for NJCAA Region 23 Basketball Tournament in Clinton

SCOOBA – After serving as the proud host of last week's MACJC Basketball Tournament on the Scooba campus, East Mississippi Community College's hoops teams are set to begin competition in this week's (March 3-6) NJCAA Region 23 Tournament in Clinton.  The four-day tournament begins with men's opening-round action on Tuesday with women's action starting on Wednesday at A.E. Wood Coliseum on the Mississippi College campus.

After finishing second in the MACJC North Division regular-season standings with a 9-3 division mark, Coach Billy Begley's 16-8 EMCC Lions earned the No. 4 seed in this week's Region 23 tourney.  Last year's MACJC state champions will take on fifth-seeded Hinds (15-8, 8-4 in MACJC South) during Tuesday's quarterfinals in a 5 p.m. contest.  The EMCC-Hinds winner will advance to Thursday's 3 p.m. semifinals to meet the winner of Tuesday's opening-round game between MACJC champion and top-seeded Pearl River and No. 8 seed Southern-Shreveport.

The other half of the NJCAA Region 23 men's tournament bracket will feature first-round Tuesday contests pitting third-seeded LSU Eunice against No. 6 seed Jones at 1 p.m., followed at 3 p.m. by No. 2 seed and MACJC North Division champion Northeast Mississippi versus seventh-seeded Northwest Mississippi.  The winners of the LSUE-JC and NEMCC-NWCC games will advance to meet each other during Thursday's semifinals at 1 p.m.

EMCC's Lions are led by All-MACJC, first-team freshman forward Jakorie Smith, who ranks as the team's leading scorer (15.3 ppg) and top rebounder (8.4 rpg) on the season as a two-time MACJC Player of the Week.  The East Mississippi men also feature second-team, all-league sophomore guard Donte Powers (13.1 ppg, 3.3 apg & 2.8 rpg) and fellow double-digit scorer Arecko Gipson Jr. (12.5 ppg & 5.6 rpg).

During last week's Scooba-hosted MACJC Tournament in a rematch of last year's state championship game won by EMCC in Ellisville, the Lions dropped a tough-luck 70-65 opening-round decision to Jones College after falling, 74-60, at home in their regular-season finale to Northeast Mississippi.

This week's action in the NJCAA Region 23 Tournament marks East Mississippi's 10^th regional men's appearance during the last dozen seasons.  The Lions own a composite record of 17-5 in regional play dating back to the 2008-09 hoops campaign, including four consecutive Region 23 championships and resulting NJCAA Tournament berths (2010-13) plus another national tournament berth (as regional runners-up) in 2016 during Begley's first season as EMCC's head men's coach.

Riding the momentum of last week's memorable three-day tourney run as MACJC Tournament hosts, Coach Sharon Thompson's 24-2 EMCC Lady Lions have earned the region tournament's top seed by virtue of claiming the school's first MACJC women's basketball championship since the 1983-84 season.  On consecutive nights at EMCC's Keyes T. Currie, the Lady Lions knocked off Mississippi Gulf Coast (53-47), Southwest Mississippi (62-53) and 10^th-ranked Jones (87-73 in 2OT) to extend their current winning streak to 19 consecutive games heading into this week's Region 23 tourney.

The EMCC women, who went undefeated during a dozen regular-season MACJC North Division games, will begin regional play Wednesday with a 3 p.m. opening-round game against No. 7 region seed Northwest Mississippi (15-9, 7-5).  The Lady Lions swept the Lady Rangers during the regular season with single-digit victories in Senatobia (71-62 on Jan. 16) and in Scooba (61-54 on Feb. 10).  The winner of the EMCC-NWCC game will advance to Thursday's 5 p.m. semifinals to take on the winner of Wednesday's first-round contest between Itawamba (#3 Mississippi seed) and Mississippi Gulf Coast (#5 region seed).

The other half of the NJCAA Region 23 women's tournament bracket will have Jones (No. 2 Mississippi seed) against Copiah-Lincoln (#6 region seed) Wednesday at 5 p.m., followed by Southwest Mississippi (#4 Mississippi seed) versus LSU Eunice (#1 Louisiana seed) at 7 p.m.   The winners of those two games will advance to meet each other during Thursday's semifinals at 7 p.m.

On Friday in Clinton, a 5 p.m. women's championship contest will be followed by a 7 p.m. men's title tilt.  The NJCAA Region 23 Tournament winners will receive automatic berths to participate in the respective NJCAA Division I Men's and Women's Basketball Championships to be held March 16-21 in Hutchinson, Kansas (men's) and Lubbock, Texas (women's).

The EMCC Lady Lions are paced by the all-conference trio comprised of first-team recipients Ja'Mia Hollings and Tye Metcalf plus second-team selection Taylor Lattimore, who claimed instant recognition with her two buzzer-beating 3-pointers to twice extend last Thursday's MACJC women's championship game.  Hollings is averaging a double-double (14.1 ppg & 10.0 rpg) with 14 double-double efforts during the season as a two-time MACJC Player of the Week.  Metcalf averages 12.9 points, 4.1 assists and 3.1 rebounds an outing on the year, but those averages increased to a team-high 18.7 points, 5.0 assists and 6.3 rebounds per tournament win last week.  Lattimore's scoring average for the season has improved to 12.7 points per game following last week's 27-point, championship-game performance.

The EMCC Lady Lions will be making their first NJCAA Region 23 Tournament appearance since the 2013-14 campaign.  Their most recent regional championship and NJCAA Tournament appearance came during the 2008-09 season when the East Mississippi women (25-7) knocked off Northwest Mississippi (47-44), Jones (76-73) and Copiah-Lincoln (52-43) in regional play to advance to the NJCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship played back then in Salina, Kansas.

2020 NJCAA Region 23 Men's Basketball Tournament Bracket

2020 NJCAA Region 23 Women's Basketball Tournament Bracket