BOONEVILLE, Miss. - A sizzling hot start by Javion Stephen and several solid second half performances helped the Northeast Mississippi Community College men's basketball team begin its last non-conference homestand in the right way.
The Tigers broke open a tie game with 11 minutes remaining and defeated rival Itawamba Community College by a score of 80-70 on Thursday, December 5 inside legendary Bonner Arnold Coliseum.
"They're a good team. We're a good team. I thought we just did what we do. We just kinda keep coming at you," said Northeast head coach Cord Wright.
"Everybody contributed in some way tonight and that was what we were looking for. It's not a one-man show. They've really started to buy in."
The Tigers never trailed in the contest, but the Indians used a 7-2 run to bring the game into a 50-50 stalemate at the 11:36 mark to be precise. However, Northeast accounted for 16 of the next 19 points and never looked back.
Tyler Byrd and Ru Mills started the decisive spurt for the Tigers (12-0) with four consecutive layups. Josh Holman's triple three minutes later gave Northeast its largest lead of the night at 66-53.
Itawamba (10-2) cut its deficit back to two possessions with three straight three-pointers. But Byrd made 4 of 6 free throws in the final minute and Devin Jones had two big baskets to keep the Tigers ahead by a comfortable margin.
Holman and Mills scored all of their 15 combined points after the intermission. Byrd also poured in 10 of his 17 points during a second half in which Northeast shot 54.5 percent overall from the floor.
Stephon Thomas, Jones and Mills barely missed double figures with eight points apiece. The Tigers committed only nine turnovers while dishing out 21 assists on 32 total made field goals.
Northeast, which is receiving votes in the latest national rankings, drained three treys in a row to open the contest. Stephen connected on two of those in a foreshadowing of what was to come later in the half.
Stephen went on to make six three-pointers in the first 20 minutes to lift his Tigers to a 38-28 halftime advantage. He finished with a game-high 23 points plus three steals and a pair of assists.
"I was feeling good, but I just wanted to stay within the offense and help my guys. I didn't want to force anything that was coming to me," Stephen said. "It was an all-around good game. We just stayed together."
Northeast has the next week off to focus on fall semester final exams. The Tigers return to the court on Friday, December 13 to host Phillips Community College of the University of Arkansas on day one of its Harvey Childers Classic.