EMCC Lions earn No. 4 seed and first-round bye in NJCAA Region 23 men’s hoops tourney
For the third consecutive year, the East Mississippi Community College men’s basketball team has earned a No. 4 seed in the NJCAA Region 23 Basketball Tournament.
SCOOBA – For the third consecutive year, the East Mississippi Community College men's basketball team has earned a No. 4 seed in the NJCAA Region 23 Basketball Tournament.
After having secured an opening-round bye for the second straight year by virtue of their 95-91 road win over Hinds on March 4, head coach Billy Begley's EMCC Lions will take on the winner of Saturday's (March 9) first-round tournament game between fifth-seeded Holmes (21-8, 9-5 MACCC) and No. 12 seed East Central (13-17, 4-10) on Monday (March 11) in Scooba. Tipoff for EMCC's quarterfinal-round contest is slated for 6 p.m. at Keyes T. Currie Coliseum.
The Lions enter postseason play with a 16-13 overall record and 9-5 MACCC mark after concluding regular-season play with an 89-72 home setback to Itawamba on Thursday (March 7). After previously owning a 2-3 mark within the conference following an 86-75 loss at Copiah-Lincoln on Feb. 1, EMCC won seven of its last nine league contests to close out the regular-season slate.
With the top four teams from the men's final regular-season MACCC basketball standings all receiving opening-round byes, the first two rounds of this year's 12-team region tournament will be played on campus sites Saturday (March 9) and Monday (March 11). The week-long tournament is then set to conclude Thursday and Friday (March 14-15) at Mississippi College's A.E. Wood Coliseum in Clinton.
In addition to MACCC regular-season men's co-champions Jones College (24-6, 11-3) and Northeast Mississippi (26-4, 11-3) earning the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds, respectively, Mississippi Gulf Coast (17-9, 9-5) claimed the No. 3 seed to also receive an opening-round bye. Saturday's other first-round men's tournament pairings will have No. 8 seed Copiah-Lincoln (16-10, 8-6) hosting No. 9 seed Baton Rouge (13-12) in Wesson, No. 7 seed Itawamba (22-7, 8-6) entertaining No. 10 seed Pearl River (20-9, 7-7) in Fulton, and No. 6 seed Southwest Mississippi (17-12, 8-6) playing host to No. 11 seed Meridian (15-12, 7-7) in Summit.
During the regular season, East Mississippi recorded home victories over both of its possible upcoming Region 23 Tournament opponents for Monday's quarterfinals. On Feb. 8 in Scooba, the Lions posted a 76-67 win over the Holmes Bulldogs. Three weeks later (Feb. 29), EMCC claimed an 85-81 home triumph over the East Central Warriors.
A year ago in the 2023 NJCAA Region 23 Men's Basketball Tournament, the fourth-seeded EMCC Lions earned a 56-53 home win over No. 5 seed Pearl River in the quarterfinals before dropping a 73-65 semifinal-round decision to No. 8 seed Jones College in Clinton.
In women's action for East Mississippi, head coach Isaiah Butler's EMCC Lady Lions did not qualify for postseason play after finishing this year's regular season with a 4-24 overall record and 1-13 conference mark.