PERKINSTON — Since Mississippi Gulf Coast last played Northeast Mississippi, the Bulldogs have won seven of nine games.
The teams meet again in the NJCAA Region 23 Men’s Basketball Tournament semifinals Thursday. The teams are scheduled to tip off the fourth game of the day at 7 p.m.
The tournament has been moved to Tougaloo College’s Kroger Gym in Jackson. The game will be streamed at https://mgcccbulldogs.com/watch.
“One thing our team has done is continue to get better,” Bulldogs coach Owen Miller said. “The reason for that is we’ve had good practices, and they’ve been very good in the film room. They’ve been locked in the last four or five weeks of the season.”
Third-seeded Gulf Coast (18-9) traveled to Booneville on Feb. 5 against the Tigers (27-4), who are the second seed. The Bulldogs were up seven with 3:30 to play but couldn’t hold on. The Tigers outscored the Bulldogs 17-5 down the stretch to win 80-75.
Jabbari Barry (Fr., Lake Charles La./Barbe) had 25 points to lead the team, and Duran Parish (Fr., Biloxi/Biloxi) had 12 points, six assists and five rebounds.
“They’re not going to beat themselves,” Miller said. “They’re good on both ends. They change their defenses up. We’ll have to play well to give ourselves a chance to win.”
Gulf Coast will be looking to advance to the region finals, which will be played Friday night. Two wins would give the Bulldogs their fourth overall trip to the national tournament and first since 2009.
NJCAA Region 23 Men’s Basketball Tournament
First Round
Saturday, March 9
Higher seed hosts
No. 9 Baton Rouge 70, No. 8 Copiah-Lincoln 65
No. 5 Holmes 81, No. 12 East Central 69
No. 10 Pearl River 74, No. 7 Itawamba 64
No. 11 Meridian 100, No. 6 Southwest Mississippi 96
Quarterfinals
Monday, March 11
Higher seed hosts
No. 1 Jones 80, No. 9 Baton Rouge 75
No. 5 Holmes 81, No. 4 East Mississippi 68
No. 2 Northeast Mississippi 71, No. 10 Pearl River 55
Meridian at No. 3 Gulf Coast 88, No. 11 Meridian 82
Semifinals
Thursday, March 14
Kroger Gymnasium, Tougaloo College
Jackson, Miss.
Jones vs. Holmes, 3 pm
Northeast Mississippi vs. Gulf Coast, 7 pm
Finals
Friday, March 15
Kroger Gymnasium, Tougaloo College
Jackson, Miss.
Championship, 7 pm
For more information on MGCCC’s 11 intercollegiate athletic teams, follow @MGCCCBulldogs on Twitter and MGCCCBulldogs on Facebook, and go to mgcccbulldogs.com.
This post originally posted at https://www.mgcccbulldogs.com/landing/index by MGCCC Athletics
