Booneville, MS – The Jets had a long ride out and an even longer ride back after dropping back to back losses to East Mississippi Community College and Northeast Mississippi in the Northeast Mississippi Classic in Booneville, MS.
The Jets had already dropped back-to-back decisions to Tallahassee State College before making the six-hour trip to Mississippi and dropping an 89 – 68 decision to East Mississippi and an 82 – 74 loss to Northeast Mississippi.
In both games, the Jets started off competitive before heading to the locker room at half time with a narrow deficit. Their opponents were able to build on their early leads and capture the non-conference wins. North Mississippi is now 3 – 1 and East Mississippi is 3 – 0 on the young season.
In the first match-up of the Northeast Mississippi Classic, the Jets were only down 43 – 39 at the end of the first half against East Mississippi. But a strong second half by East Mississippi and a poor shooting performance by the Jets in the second half left the Jets with the 89 – 68 loss.
Returning sophomore guard Jalexs Ewing led the Jets in scoring with 25 points. He was 10 of 16 from the field, one of three from the three-point line and four of nine from the foul line. He and returning sophomore center, Matt Mbole, were the only two Jets in double digits. Mbole had a total of 16 points and 13 rebounds to walk away with a double-double on the night.
Jarius Davis, a freshman from Greensboro, SC, and Marcellus Myles, a freshman guard from Thomaston, GA, both managed to post nine points on the night. Clark Mastin, a freshman point guard from Conyers, contributed five points and Guillaume Schoentgen and Jeremy Nixon closed out the scoring with three points and one point respectively.
The Jets only shot 37.3% (22-59) from the field, 19.8% (3 – 16) from the three-point line and 60% (21 – 35) from the foul line. East Mississippi had a balanced scoring attack with four of their starters in double-digits. They shot 49.2% (31 – 63) from the field, 46.2% (12-26) from the three-point line and 57.7% (15 – 26) from the foul line.
Despite losing by 21 points, the Jets had the opportunity to take the win but couldn’t convert. The Jets struggled again against Northeast Mississippi the next day, but only came up eight points shy in the 82 – 74 loss.
Jalexs Ewing led the team in scoring again with 21 points and he was followed by Clark Mastin with 12 points and Matt Mbole with 10. Ewing was also the leading rebounder with nine on the night. Guillaume Schoentgen tossed in nine points, Dwight Brown had eight, Ilich Yacaman and Marcellus Myles scored five points each and Marc Ferdy and Frankie Raines closed out the scoring with 2 points each.
The Jets hit 43.8% (28 – 64) from the field, 17.6% (3 – 17) from the three-point line and 60% (15 – 25) from the foul line. Northeast Mississippi shot 45.2% (28 – 62) from the field, 33.3% (11-33) from the three-point line and hit 68.2% (15-22) of their foul shots. They had three players in double-digits.
The Jets will be looking for their second win of the season this coming weekend when they travel to Melbourne, FL for the Eastern Florida Classic. They open up against Indian River State College on November 14 at 6 p.m. and then follow up with their third straight matchup against Eastern Florida State College on November 15 at 2 p.m. before returning home for a rematch against Chipola College at home in the hangar on Wednesday, November 19 at 7 p.m. The Jets will be at home on November 21 – 22 for the Sparky Reeves Classic where they have rematches with Northeast Mississippi and Eastern Florida Sate College. The Jets play Northeast Mississippi on November 21 at 8 p.m. and Eastern Florida State for the 4th time on November 22 at 3 p.m.