Booneville, MS – It was a Tiger vs. Tiger matchup in the first round of the MACCC Tournament where Northeast upset Coahoma with a 63-53 win on the road to advance to the quarterfinals on Saturday. 

Through the first four minutes of the first half, it seemed like a lid was stuck on the basket for Northeast until Zane Tipler broke through with a triple to get NEMCC on the board. Issac Gilbert held strong in the post for a score through contact to spark a Northeast run that soon stretched the lead to 23-13 off a three-point bomb from Zach Portwood. Tipler added three the old fashion way by converting an and-one opportunity before the break to head into halftime up 28-20 over Coahoma. 

Despite a quick layup from Ezekiel Udozorh to open the second half, ten-point Northeast's lead did not last long with Coahoma quickly clawing back to close the gap down to three. A pair from beyond the arc from Javion Stephen helped to stretch the lead to 38-29 which was trimmed back down to three-points with ten minutes remaining. A big putback from Michael Johnson put momentum back in favor of Northeast as the sophomore guard drove to the basket for another big score to make it a 58-49 lead with under two minutes to go before a parade at the free throw line helped NEMCC advance to the MACCC Quarterfinals with a win over Coahoma.  

Key Stats vs. Coahoma:

• Johnson led the way with 19 points for three Tigers in double figures including Stephen with 12 and Tipler with 10.
• Northeast recorded 11 steals with Tipler and Berryhill each snatching up 4 apiece to lead to 14 points off of turnovers.
• Stephen and Tipler led the Tigers reserves to 32 points off of the bench compared to 5 from Coahoma. 
• Northeast connected on 21 of their 29 attempts at the charity stripe with Johnson going a perfect 7 for 7. 

Northeast basketball is back in action on Saturday at 2:00 PM when they take on the Bears of Southwest in Summit, MS with the winner heading to the semifinals next week.