Booneville, MS – Following a near 40-point win over Mississippi Delta last week, the Northeast Tigers wrapped up their 2025-26 regular season with a road win over East Mississippi 87-83 in an instant thriller.

Buddy Spearman opened the game on fire with back-to-back threes to push ahead in the first minute with a thunderous dunk from Michael Johnson extending the lead to 10-5. The Lions closed the gap midway through the first half with the Tigers responding the paint with a score from Marreon Smith followed by a duo of triples from Javion Stephen to make it a double-digit 47-36 lead entering the break. 

A long-range shot from beyond the arc by Tayler Berryhill opened the second half for Northeast to push their lead further ahead. A dominant showing in the paint from Issac Gilbert and Ezekiel Udozorh resulted in four quick layups to give the Tigers their largest lead at 60-47 before the Lions clawed back to even up the score off a 13-0 run. Both sides exchanged buckets through the rest of the contest with Udozorh hammering home a one-handed slam to keep the advantage in favor of Northeast. With time winding down and the Tigers' lead hanging on by a thread, Stephen answered the call with a triple from the top of the arc to help clinch the win over East. 

Key Stats vs. East Mississippi:

• Four Tigers reached double figures in scoring led by Udozorh with 19 and Stephen's 18 while Johnson chipped in 15.
• Berryhill dished out six assists to add to his totals over the past three games, averaging 7.0 assists per contest.
• Northeast made good on their attempts at the free throw line, going 81.8% compared to 67.5% by the Lions.
• Turnovers were costly for East with the Tigers snatching up 10 steals that led to fastbreak points for Northeast.