Milestones

Northeast Mississippi Community College Basketball head coach Cord Wright achieved another milestone on Monday with a 76-60 win over conference opponent East Central. This victory marks his surpassing of the legendary Harvey Childers, making Wright the third-winningest coach in program history. Now in his 11th season at Northeast, Wright has compiled an impressive 196-74 record. This achievement is particularly notable given the rarity of coaches maintaining such success over extended periods in today’s era.

Poll Update

The Top 5 experienced a single change, with Northwest Florida moving up to #5 and Daytona State climbing to #4. Re-entering the Top 10 are #8 Lee College and #10 Cowley, both boasting 18-2 records for the year. Making their first appearance at #25 is Walters State, following an impressive 16-1 start. The complete rankings are available at [https://njcaa.org/sports/mbkb/rankings/DI/index]

Dialing Long Distance

On the road, #16 Triton defeated RV Southeastern 110-87. However, the highlight of the night was Triton setting a record by going 24/35 from the 3 PT line. Sophomore star Amar Augillard, a transfer from Georgia Southern, scored 39 points, hitting 11/14 from 3pt range. Augillard's average is just over 22ppg, shooting 49% from behind the arc. Scoring 24 three-pointers in a rivalry road game is always a feat!

KJCCC Race Heats Up

In the Jayhawk Conference, most teams have played 14 games of their 24-game season, which began in November. Approaching the midway point, Barton and Cowley are tied at the top of the 13-team league, both at 13-1, with Hutchinson close behind at 11-2.

Barton's 10-game winning streak includes their only season defeat by Cowley on November 29th. Cowley's single league loss was against Cloud County on January 13th. In a pivotal match-up, Cowley will host Barton in Ark City, KS, on February 3rd. With both teams' current form, this game could be decisive for the regular season title.

Upsets!

Unranked teams Clarendon, USU-Eastern, and Georgia Highlands each secured victories over ranked opponents, with Clarendon and USU-Eastern achieving this feat on the road.

Clarendon Bulldogs narrowly defeated #11 Odessa 68-66, marking the second regular season in which they've upset the Wrangler dynasty. Odessa's only two losses in the past three regular seasons have been to the Bulldogs.

USU-Eastern, led by Martel Williams' 33 points and 10 rebounds, overcame Salt Lake City CC 84-66 on the road, placing them firmly in the Scenic West conference race.

Georgia Highlands clinched a tight 68-67 win over Chipola, with the Chargers leading 40-32 at halftime and holding off a late rally by Chipola. Jay’Quan Nelson led GHC with 23 points and 6 rebounds.

Kezza Goes Krazy!

High Point junior guard Kezza Giffa, a transfer from Daytona St, has been on a scoring spree since the new year. Giffa played 29 games with 25 starts at Daytona in the 22-23 season, averaging 10.8 ppg, 3.1 rebounds, and 3.0 assists while shooting 49.1% from the field, 35.5% from three-point range, and 69.7% from the free-throw line. After an injury to Duke Miles at High Point, Giffa stepped into the starting lineup and has since been averaging 29.7 ppg, including a 37-point performance in a comeback win at Winthrop, where he also hit the game-winner. He has been named the Big South Player of The Week three times during this period.