EMCC Lions tip off with Mississippi Delta in ultimate quest for fourth straight NJCAA Region 23 hoops championship

SCOOBA – East Mississippi Community College's ultimate quest for a fourth consecutive men's basketball regional championship begins Wednesday with a first-round contest against division foe Mississippi Delta Community College at the NJCAA Region 23 Basketball Tournament being played in Clinton.  Tip-off for the opening-round game between EMCC and Delta is set for 2:30 p.m. at A.E. Wood Coliseum on the Mississippi College campus.  

The winner of the EMCC-MDCC contest will advance to meet the winner of the tournament's opening game between third-seeded Baton Rouge Community College and No. 6 seed Southwest Mississippi Community College during Friday's semifinals at 12:30 p.m. 

Wednesday's other first-round men's tournament pairings will feature MACJC state champion and No. 1 region seed Pearl River Community College against eighth-seeded Southern University-Shreveport at 6 p.m., followed by No. 4 seed Northwest Mississippi Community College versus fifth-seeded Jones County Junior College at 8 p.m.

Thursday's opening-round women's tournament pairings include: Northeast Mississippi vs. Mississippi Gulf Coast at 12:30 p.m.; Jones County vs. Baton Rouge at 2:30 p.m.; Copiah-Lincoln vs. Meridian at 6 p.m.; and Itawamba vs. Northwest Mississippi at 8 p.m.  

Friday's NJCAA Region 23 Basketball Tournament schedule features men's semifinal-round contests during the afternoon session at 12:30 and 2:30 p.m.  The women's semifinals will be played Friday evening at 6 and 8 p.m.  Saturday's championship round will have a 6 p.m. women's title game preceding an 8 p.m. men's championship contest.

Seeded second in this week's regional basketball tournament, head coach Mark White's 17-7 EMCC Lions most recently had their six-game winning streak snapped with an 84-82 overtime setback to Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College in the opening round of last week's MACJC State Basketball Tournament hosted by Pearl River Community College in Poplarville.  The Lions claimed their fourth straight MACJC North Division regular-season hoops crown with a 10-2 division mark this season.

The Trojans of Mississippi Delta Community College enter regional play with an 11-13 overall record after earning state tournament runner-up honors to host Pearl River last week in Poplarville.  Delta defeated Jones County (71-68) and Gulf Coast (75-64) to get to the title tilt.  Seeded seventh in this week's regional tournament, Delta finished third in the MACJC North Division's regular-season standings with a 6-6 division mark.

With EMCC's White owning a 10-2 career mark versus Mississippi Delta during his six seasons on the Scooba campus, the Lions swept the Trojans on the hardwood during the 2012-13 regular season with an 81-62 victory in Scooba back on Jan. 19 and a narrow 77-73 win in Moorhead a month ago (Feb. 7).

All of EMCC's regional basketball games this week in Clinton are scheduled to be video-streamed live in HD via the school's Ustream channel, which can be easily accessed through EMCC's athletic website, www.EMCCAthletics.com.  With EMCC media director/athletic video coordinator Derek Cody handling play-by-play duties, the live radio broadcasts are also slated to be carried on WFCA FM 108 out of French Camp.

As three-time reigning NJCAA Region 23 champions and back-to-back-to-back NJCAA National Tournament participants, the EMCC Lions own a current nine-game win string in region tournament competition spanning back to the 2010 tourney.  A year ago in Clinton, East Mississippi knocked off Jones County (78-68), Pearl River (65-52) and Southern-Shreveport (63-49) to claim the school's third consecutive regional men's basketball championship.  Northwest Mississippi Community College ranks as the most recent MACJC school to have earned four straight regional men's hoops titles between the 2002-03 and 2005-06 basketball campaigns.

In his sixth season with the Lions, EMCC's White owns a career head coaching record of 120-50 (.706), which includes composite records of 92-25 (.786) overall and 43-5 (.896) in regular-season division play during the past four seasons combined.  

2013 NJCAA Region 23 Basketball Tournament – March 6-9 at Clinton, MS

Hosted by Mississippi College (A.E. Wood Coliseum)

MEN'S BRACKET

First-round men's games (Wed., March 6)

#3 Baton Rouge CC (La.) vs. #6 Southwest Mississippi CC -- 12:30 p.m.

#2 East Mississippi CC vs. #7 Mississippi Delta CC -- 2:30 p.m.

#1 Pearl River CC vs. #8 Southern University-Shreveport (La.) -- 6 p.m.

#4 Northwest Mississippi CC vs. #5 Jones County JC -- 8 p.m. 

Semifinal-round men's games (Fri., March 8)

BRCC/Southwest winner vs. EMCC/Delta winner --12:30 p.m.

PRCC/SUS winner vs. Northwest/JCJC winner -- 2:30 p.m.

Championship men's game (Sat., March 9) 

Men's Championship -- 8 p.m.

WOMEN'S BRACKET

First-round women's games (Thurs., March 7)

#2 Northeast Mississippi CC vs. #6 Mississippi Gulf Coast CC -- 12:30 p.m.

#4 Jones County JC vs. #7 Baton Rouge CC (La.) -- 2:30 p.m.

#1 Copiah-Lincoln CC vs. #8 Meridian CC -- 6 p.m.

#3 Itawamba CC vs. #5 Northwest Mississippi CC -- 8 p.m.

Semifinal-round women's games (Fri., March 8)

Northeast/MGCCC winner vs. JCJC/BRCC winner -- 6 p.m.

ICC/Northwest winner vs. Co-Lin/MCC winner -- 8 p.m.

Championship women's game (Sat., March 9) 

Women's Championship -- 6 p.m.