BOONEVILLE, Miss. — NEMCC basketball closed out its home tournament with a second straight loss Friday afternoon, falling 87-69 to Ranger College on the final day of the Bonner Arnold Classic in Booneville. The Northeast Mississippi Community College Tigers, who started the season with four wins in a row, are now 4-2.
The game tipped off at 4 p.m. at Bonner Arnold Coliseum. The numbers below come from the official box score posted by the college’s athletics department shortly after the final horn.
NEMCC basketball trails by 20 at halftime
Northeast scored first on a Mike Hood layup, but that 2-0 edge was the Tigers’ only lead of the day. Ranger, a junior college from Texas, answered with a three-pointer from Ace Arnold and never trailed again.
The visitors built their margin steadily through the first half. Ranger led 25-11 with 10 minutes left before the break, stretched the gap to as many as 23 points at 42-19, and took a 49-29 lead into the locker room.
The Tigers played Ranger nearly even after halftime and actually won the second half 40-38, but they could not get closer than 15 points. Ranger’s lead peaked at 27 points, 81-54, late in the game before Northeast trimmed the final margin to 18.
Warren scores 20 to lead the Tigers
TJ Warren led Northeast for the second day in a row. He finished with 20 points, six assists and four rebounds, hitting 6 of 9 shots from the field and 8 of 12 free throws.
Hood added 16 points and a team-high eight rebounds. Issac Gilbert had nine points on 4-of-5 shooting, Kedrick Simmons scored eight off the bench, and Jace Conrad made two three-pointers for six points.
Cameron Thomas paced Ranger with a game-high 26 points and six rebounds. Arnold scored 16 and made 4 of 5 from three-point range, Savon Sutton had 12, Kylan Castaings-Otto had 11, and Haisi Mayben finished with 10 points and nine assists.
By the numbers
Final: Ranger College 87, Northeast 69
Halftime: Ranger 49, Northeast 29
Field goals: Northeast 23 of 55 (41.8 percent); Ranger 29 of 61 (47.5 percent)
Three-pointers: Northeast 3 of 17 (17.6 percent); Ranger 7 of 20 (35 percent)
Free throws: Northeast 20 of 35 (57.1 percent); Ranger 22 of 32 (68.8 percent)
Rebounds: Ranger 40, Northeast 32
Assists: Ranger 18, Northeast 13
Turnovers: Northeast 11, Ranger 8
Outside shooting and the free-throw line were the biggest gaps. Northeast made just three shots from beyond the arc and left 15 points at the line, while Ranger made four more three-pointers and grabbed 15 offensive rebounds.
Tigers open region play Monday
The loss follows Thursday’s 65-62 overtime defeat to John A. Logan College on the first day of the Classic, so the Tigers finished the two-day home event 0-2 after their 4-0 start.
Northeast now goes on the road. The Tigers visit East Central Community College on Monday, Nov. 16, with a 6 p.m. tipoff listed on the team’s schedule. The schedule marks it as a region game.
Jon R Myers is the executive editor of Alcorn County News and the founder of the Mississippi News Group, which he started in 2013 to cover communities across North Mississippi. He also founded the Mississippi Sports Group in 2006, which grew from a single community publication into a statewide network covering high school and college athletics. He reports on local government, public safety, schools and community life in Corinth and Alcorn County, working from public meetings, agency records and interviews with the people involved. Contact him at editor@alcornnewsms.com with news tips or corrections. For a correction, include the article link and supporting source material.
Stay connected
Your community. Wherever you are.
Follow Alcorn County News on Facebook for local news from Corinth and across Alcorn County.
