POPLARVILLE, Miss. — The No. 5 seed Pearl River men's basketball team's quest for a fourth Region 23 Tournament title in the last five years begins on Monday as No. 12 seed East Central makes the trip to Marvin R. White Coliseum for a 6 p.m. tipoff.
PRCC took on East Central in its conference opener on Jan. 5 and the Wildcats took the contest 91-75.
ABOUT THE WILDCATS
PRCC earns the No. 5 seed after finishing the season with a 17-7 record and a 9-5 mark in conference play. Four Wildcats have led the way in scoring this season as Carlous Williams (Hattiesburg; Harrison Central), Jermahri Hill (Bessemer, Ala.; Berkmar), Cam Brown (Hattiesburg) and Dylan Brumfield (Oak Grove) are all averaging double-digit points.
Williams is first on the team with 16.1 points per game. He also leads the team in rebounding with 6.7 per game. The Wildcat forward has chipped in 1.4 assists and 0.7 blocks each game.
Hill has averaged 15.7 points, five rebounds and 2.5 assists this season.
Third-year sophomore Brown is adding in 12.4 ppg to go along with 4.8 rpg and 1.7 apg. He's averaging 38.8 percent from beyond the arc.
Brumfield rounds out the double-digit scores with 12.1. The point guard also has collected 4.7 rebounds and a team-high assists per game this year.
Defensively, Pearl River ranks first in the MACCC and ninth in the NJCAA in points allowed per game with a mark of 63.2.
ABOUT THE WARRIORS
East Central is led by one of the best scorers in the NJCAA this season, Tai'Reon Joseph. Joseph is averaging 26.3 points per game this season which ranks third-best in the country. He also averages 2.4 rebounds and 1.6 assists.
Julius Ellerbe is averaging a double-double this season, scoring 13.9 ppg and hauling in 10.6 rpg. Ellerbe also averages 5.3 assists per game. Christopher Keys averages 13.3 points, eight rebounds, and two assists per game. David Berry is the only other Warrior averaging double-digit points with 11.4. He also has collected 6.7 rpg and 1.9 apg.
East Central's 86.9 points scored per game rank 19th best in the country.
A LOOK AHEAD
If Pearl River is to win its contest against East Central, the Wildcats will travel to East Mississippi Wednesday for a 6 p.m. tipoff.
CASHLESS BOX OFFICE
To help improve traffic flow and fan experience, PRCC athletics box offices will be cashless in 2022-23. Only credit and debit cards will be accepted at the box office. Fans are encouraged to beat the lines and purchase their tickets in advance at PRCCAthletics.com/Tickets.
TUNE IN
Pearl River livestreams all home games for free at PRCCMedia.com/gold. Fans who have Roku, Amazon Fire, or Apple TV devices can also watch the Wildcat broadcasts by downloading the "Pearl River CC" channel from their app stores.
Games will also be available over the air in Pearl River County by tuning into 1320 AM and 106.9 FM. The radio broadcast is also available at WRJWRadio.com and by downloading the WRJW app.
For the latest on Pearl River Community College athletics, follow us on Twitter (@PRCCAthletics) and Facebook (PRCCAthletics).