The Men’s basketball team have had yet another impressive season, claiming back-to-back MACCC District Championships, Region 23 Championships and making it to the final 16 in the National Tournament.
After a remarkable season last year, the Bobcats had much to live up to. As preseason for the basketball team began, they were ranked 9th in the NJCAA preseason poll and 1st in the MACCC preseason polls. They would start off their journey back to nationals in Arkansas at the Greyhound Tip-Off Classic against ASU Mid-South and National Park College. The Bobcats demonstrated their dominance with two clear wins 85-39 against ASU Mid-South and 118-62 against National Park College.
With an impressive opening start to the season, the team went 14–2 before the opening round of conference play, where they would face off at Fulton against Itawamba. Their opening game was not as expected, with a sudden loss of 79-92 against the Indians.
“There have definitely been a few challenges when we dropped games,” said Sophomore Forward Kaison Saunders. “We had to come together as a team and really lock in to figure out what we needed to do.”
Although their season opener did not go to plan, the Bobcats were able to set the game aside and head onto their home season opener against the Meridian Eagles. The Bobcats defeated Merdian with an impressive score of 81-59, bringing their week one conference play to an overall 1-1.
The team had demonstrated to the MACCC that they well deserved their number 1 ranking spot and looked to continue their winning momentum through week two. Games came fast against Mississippi Gulf Coast and the Northwest Rangers. Jones secured a 13-point win against Gulf Coast. The Bobcats used this momentum to their advantage to continue to demonstrate their talent and perseverance as they faced Northwest three days later at home. The Northwest Rangers fell to a 100-56 scoreline to the Bobcats, who had begun to highlight their aspirations for the season with the scores they were putting up.
The Bobcats had secured a 7th place ranking in the NJCAA Division One poll after they had battled against Itawamba and seen victories in all other MACCC contests. They were looking to continue to prove themselves and climb the national rankings once again. As week three of conference play rolled around, the Bobcats travelled to Summit to face Southwest, resulting in an 89-54 victory, while they hosted Copiah-Lincoln on their home court to win 82-78.
The Bobcats’ conference record now stood at 5-1 as they headed to East Mississippi with a closely contested win of 78-70, this was the closest-fought game they have had since their opening loss to Itawamba. In that same week, Jones fought against the bulldogs of Holmes Community College in a convincing 85-62 win.
Jones needed that winning momentum to stand firm at the number five spot in the NJCAA rankings when facing an upcoming tough game against Northeast. Their first focus, however, was the first game of the week against Mississippi Delta in Moorhead. They came away once again with a convincing 91-70 win, yet the Bobcats knew their work was not done for the week as their attention turned to the game against Northeast.
“The environment is very light-hearted,” said Saunders. “Until it gets to game time when the team really locks in and gets things done.”
This had to be the case for the Bobcats as they fought Northeast to a tight 74-72 victory, the closest a team had come to defeating them since the very opening day of conference season. The Bobcats’ conference record had now moved up to 9-1 and an overall record of 23-3, holding them at 5th nationally. The Bobcats had set their sights on the final four games of regular season with the goal of becoming champions yet again.
Jones faced rivals Pearl River Community College in their next bout of games, with the Wildcats of Pearl River having home-court advantage in Poplarville. The Bobcats came out on top with a six-point advantage to secure the win over the Wildcats with an ending score of 73-67. The Bobcats regained their home-court advantage as they hosted Coahoma in Ellisville to a 10-point-win margin and overall score of 83-73. With these two wins under their belt, the Bobcats moved up to 4th nationally in the NJCAA poll with an overall record of 25-3 and 11 straight wins for the Bobcats who were now leading in the MACCC.
Jones now only had two regular season games left to play and were closer than ever to clinching the MACCC conference title once again. Their penultimate outing was to Decatur to face East Central. Once again, the Bobcats fought past the warriors of East Central to gain a victory of 78-69. They were now faced with one last regular season game, and a win meant they were to be back-to-back MACCC conference champions for the first time in the program’s history.
“The journey was definitely challenging,” said Freshman Guard DJ Davis. “A lot of long days and long nights, whether it was conditioning, learning plays or basketball workouts.”
Yet the Bobcats knew that all their hard work and perseverance had led up to their final home and MACCC game against Hinds. A win against Hinds would secure them not only the MACCC championship but also the ability to host the Region 23 tournament. Hinds fought hard against the Bobcats, but the undeniable talent of the Jones team was displayed as they walked away not only victorious over Hinds but also as back-to-back MACCC champions.
“It feels great honestly,” said Saunders. “That was one of the big goals for us, and we celebrated, but the job’s not finished yet.”
The team had to turn their attention to the upcoming playoff games where they had earned home-court advantage. On March 10th, the team faced off against Baton Rouge, where they saw a tightly contested three-point game. Leading the Bobcats to the semifinal against Northeast once again, with a 90-83 win, the Bobcats were one step closer to writing history for their college. The final had fallen one day later on March 13th against the Pearl River Wildcats. The team came away with an emphatic 74-61 win and earned both the NJCAA Region 23 and Gulf District Championship.
The Bobcats had earned the number five seed for the National Tournament, hosted in Hutchinson, Kansas. This was the highest seed in the team’s history, with the previous record being 11th in 2014, when they went on to win the National Championship.
The team were set to play 12th-ranked Angelina College, which resulted in an unfortunate loss of 62-74 in the round of 16. Although they may not have won the championship, many of the players and coaches were highlighted for their efforts this season.
Ky Pernell, Avery Thomas II, and LJ Hackman were named in the all-tournament team, while Head Coach Newton Mealer received Region 23 and MACCC Coach of the Year for the second consecutive year. Hackman was further awarded MACCC Player of the Year and named in the All-Region 23 team alongside Pernell, who was also named in the MACCC First Team. Thomas and Dimp Pernell were named in the MACCC Second Team.
The Bobcats finished their season with an overall record of 30-4, the highest number of wins in men’s Bobcat basketball history.
by Andie Boo Mills
