BOONEVILLE– The Coahoma Mighty Tigers were feeling confident and focused; starting strong in the second round of the MACJC North. They had a tough test on the road against Northeast Mississippi Community College. Coahoma had to come back from a 14 point deficit and cut the lead to single digits. Northeast made big plays down the stretch and held on to an 88-70 victory on Thursday Night.

Denzel McDuffey and Bryce Smith got things started scoring a pair of layups. Northeast took charge early with an 11-0 lead. Coahoma went straight to work with Courtney Stovall and Malik Bailey scoring five straight points to cut the lead to 18-13.

Northeast (14-4, 5-2 MACJC North) started to pull away when McDuffey scored five straight points extending the lead to 31-16. Coahoma kept on scratching and clawing through the lead. Bailey knocked down a three-pointer cutting the deficit to 42-32 at the half.

Coahoma finally cut Northeast's  lead to single digits starting the second half. Bailey knocked down another three cutting the bring the score to 51-44. Northeast answered with a 12-2 run. Jaquante Bell scored consecutive driving layups extending the lead to 63-46.

Coahoma made one final push to stay in the game. Robert Boyd and Daquan Morris sparked the Tigers with some powerful dunks cutting the lead to 71-64. Northeast put the game away with a 10-1 run. Smith and Bell scored a pair of strong layups extending the lead to 81-65.

Northeast had three players scoring in double figures. McDuffey led the Tigers with 24 points, nine rebounds, four assists and four steals. Smith finished with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Bell finished 17 points and five rebounds.

Coahoma had three players that scored in double figures. Bailey led the Tigers with 18 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals. Boyd finished with 12 points, seven rebounds, two assists and two blocks. DeNori Berry scored 10 points and two rebounds.

Coahoma goes to (3-15, 1-6 MACJC North) on the season. They will continue MACJC Northern Division action against East Mississippi Community College. The game is set for 8 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 5, 2018, at The Pinnacle.

It will be part of a doubleheader preceded by Coahoma vs. East Mississippi women's game at 6 p.m.

The game will broadcast live at www.coahomasports.com/watch. Pregame will be at 5:50 pm.