East Mississippi Community College standouts garner postseason basketball honors; Lions prep for NJCAA tourney

SCOOBA – Prepping for the program's fourth consecutive appearance in the NJCAA Division I Men's Basketball National Championship, East Mississippi Community College standouts Jarekious Bradley and Jacolby Mobley have been named to the 2013 NJCAA All-Region 23 men's basketball team.        

 In addition to being chosen to the all-region squad, Bradley and Mobley were both selected to the five-man MACJC All-North Division First Team by a vote of the head men's basketball coaches of the Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges.  With Region 23 covering the states of Mississippi and Louisiana, EMCC was the only school to have two players represented on the 10-member all-region team. 

On the women's side, EMCC freshman guard Takera Mitchell was voted to the MACJC All-North Division First Team, while Lady Lion freshman post player Savannah Kimmons collected second-team honors.  

Bradley, an NJCAA All-American candidate from Memphis, Tenn., enters the upcoming NJCAA Tournament ranked sixth nationally in scoring with an average of 21.6 points per game and 11^th in free throw shooting at 87.4 percent from the line.  The sophomore forward/guard also stands third among Region 23 players in rebounding (7.8 rpg) and fifth in three-point field goal percentage (40.6%).  With eight double-doubles on the season, Bradley (6-5, 220) played his freshman season a year ago at Midland College in Texas.

A freshman guard out of Starkville High School, Mobley is EMCC's second-leading scorer on the year at 13.6 points per contest.  Along with his 45 made 3-pointers this season, Mobley is also averaging 2.8 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.2 steals per game for head coach Mark White's 20-7 EMCC Lions.

Along with White picking up NJCAA Region 23 Coach of the Year accolades with the Lions' fourth straight regional title last week in Clinton, Bradley and fellow sophomore Trey Brown earned all-tournament honors during the NJCAA Region 23 Basketball Tournament hosted by Mississippi College.  Brown, from Brandon who transferred to the Scooba campus after spending a season at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, hit the go-ahead 3-pointer during the final seconds of EMCC's 66-62 triumph over Northwest Mississippi Community College in Saturday night's regional championship contest.

For head coach Sharon Thompson's EMCC Lady Lions, Mitchell led this year's 7-16 squad in scoring (10.6 ppg), assists (3.9 apg) and steals (2.2 spg).  The former Wayne County High School product was also the club's third-leading rebounder (4.5 rpg) as a 21-game starter on the year.

Kimmons, from Horn Lake High School, topped the 2012-13 Lady Lions with an average of 7.0 rebounds per outing and rated as the team's No. 2 scorer (9.3 ppg) on the season behind Mitchell.  The 6-foot center recorded three double-doubles during her freshman campaign.

Seeded 20^th in next week's NJCAA Division I Men's Basketball National Championship, to be held March 18-23 in Hutchinson, Kan., the EMCC Lions will meet 13^th-seeded Howard College (Texas) during Monday's opening round.  Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. CT at the Hutchinson Sports Arena.

All 24 games from the week-long tournament will be video-streamed live on NJCAA TV (www.ihigh.com/njcaatv/).  Live Ustream audio coverage of EMCC's tournament games during the single-elimination event will also be available through the school's athletics website at www.EMCCAthletics.com.  With EMCC media director/athletic video coordinator Derek Cody handling the play-by-play duties, the Lions' first-round tournament contest against Howard College will also be broadcast live on WFCA-FM (107.9) out of French Camp.

2013 NJCAA Men's Basketball National Tournament Bracket