WEST PLAINS, Mo. - The Northeast Mississippi Community College men's basketball team broke open a couple of one possession games in the second half to leave the Ozarks with its flawless record still intact.
The Tigers captured wins over North Arkansas College and host Missouri State University-West Plains from November 22-23 during the Grizzly Tournament at the West Plains Civic Center.
It was the culmination of the busiest week of the regular season for Northeast. The Tigers also had home victories over Baton Rouge (La.) Post Graduate Academy and Marion Military (Ala.) Institute on back-to-back days.
"Two extremely physical games and two good teams. I thought this was something our guys needed," said Northeast head coach Cord Wright. "In the second half of both games, I thought we really clamped down defensively, contested more shots and did a good job rebounding."
Game One: Northeast 66, Missouri State-West Plains 60
For the first time in eight games, the Tigers trailed at the half after the Grizzlies (3-5) went 17 of 18 from the charity stripe in the initial 20 minutes. However, the tide turned in favor of Northeast after the break.
The Tigers blocked seven shots and held Missouri State-West Plains to just 1 of 15 shooting from beyond the arc to claim the comeback victory. It was the first in program history over the Grizzlies in five meetings.
Northeast took the lead for good by using a 15-3 run over the course of four-plus minutes. It started with back-to-back three-pointers by Josh Holman and Michael Johnson.
Stephon Thomas capped the big stretch by the Tigers with a block on one end of the floor and a layup on the other. It gave Northeast its largest advantage of the entire matchup at 52-43 with 14:33 to go.
The Tigers' lead got trimmed to three points at 61-58 after a seven minute drought between baskets. But the combination of Landon Jeffries, Javion Stephen and Zane Tipler made 5 of 6 free throws in the final 40 seconds to secure the dub.
Jeffries topped Northeast with 15 points while Holman was right behind him with 14 points. Both sophomores shot 50 percent from the field on the dot.
Game Two: Northeast 70, North Arkansas 55
The Tigers forced 34 turnovers and scored 53 points off those miscues to win their inaugural contest against the Pioneers. Northeast also accumulated 20 second chance points off 20 offensive rebounds.
Northeast stretched a 30-27 lead out to double-digits just over three minutes into the second period. Five straight points by Tyler Byrd extended it even further to 47-31 with 12:39 remaining in the game.
Northark (4-5) cut its deficit to 53-45 at the 8:22 mark following three consecutive long distance makes. But the Tigers responded with seven points in a row, including a layup from Ismail Rashid and a Tipler trey, to end the Pioneers' final threat.
Stephen led Northeast (9-0) with 15 points while Byrd approached a double-double with 10 points and seven boards. Holman added 12 points and Rashid reached double figures for the second time in three outings with 10 points.
"It was a great trip," Stephen said. "You can never get comfortable in college basketball. I've always been told if you're consistent, you're on the floor. I've got to put the team first."
The Tigers have one more contest before they break for Thanksgiving on Tuesday, November 26 at Volunteer State (Tenn.) Community College. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. with the Lady Tigers playing before that.