MACCC Divisional, Co-Conference Basketball Champions Crowned; Region 23 Brackets released
Jackson, MISS -- An unprecedented and unusual men's and women's basketball season came to an end as the Mississippi Association of Community Colleges Conference (MACCC) today formally crowned its regular season divisional and conference co-champions following make-or-break contests that helped decide who would represent each division.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the MACCC will not host its annual conference tournament, with the MACCC North and MACCC South champions being named Co-Conference Champions. In response to the pandemic, divisional winners were named using both a win-loss and percentage of games played formula.The formula consisted of 80 percent of a team's winning percentage and 20 percent of a team's total number of games played. Teams must have completed a minimum of 50 percent of their games in order to be eligible for a conference title.
In the North Division, the Northeast Tigers narrowly edged the Holmes Bulldogs to take the crown.The Tigers earned a regular season finish of 12-3 and went undefeated in Booneville, averaging 72.6 points-per-game. A Saturday win over Coahoma (2-12), 83-72 put The Tigers over Holmes for the North championship.
In women's basketball, the Coahoma Lady Tigers fared better, earning divisional brass with a 12-2 record. They shared the women's North Division championship with 12-2 Itawamba following the team's Saturday victory over Mississippi Delta.
The MACCC South was considerably less complicated, with outright champions for both the men and the women,
The No. 9 Pearl River Wildcats won the MACCC South outright, with an overall 10-1 record. The Wildcats cut a swath through the division. The Wildcats' sole blemish was a last-second loss to the Southwest Bears on the road, The team, under the leadership of 2019 NJCAA Coach of the Year Chris Oney, was dominant throughout the season, putting up an average of 78 points on their opponents and remaining at the top of the NJCAA rankings since the preseason.
The No. 1 Jones Lady Bobcats went undefeated in the MACCC South, and climbed to the top of the NJCAA rankings, earning the top spot among two-year colleges nationwide.
For the women, Jones, Itawamba and Coahoma were named Co-MACCC Champions. For the men, Pearl River and Northeast were named co-conference champions.
With division and conference champions set, attention turns to the NJCAA Region 23 Tournament, which kicks off Monday, March 29. Opening round matchups are as follows:
Women's Basketball - Monday, March 29
(16) Mississippi Delta v. (17) Hinds
(14) Northwest v. (19) Northeast
Men's Basketball - Tuesday March 30
(16) Coahoma v. (17) Mississippi Delta
(15) Copiah-Lincoln v. (18) Baton Rouge Community College
(14) East Central v. (19) Southern University - Shreveport
All games are at 6:00 p.m. CST with the higher seed hosting. The full men's and women's brackets are below.
