NE Mississippi News

Stephenson Earns Second Weekly Award Of Freshman Season

Corey Stephenson wrapped up his first semester of basketball at Northeast Mississippi Community College with an award-winning performance.

Stephenson was selected as the Mississippi Association of Community Colleges Conference (MACCC) Player of the Week for all games contested between December 12-January 1.

"Corey's obviously a really good player, but he hit a wall with fatigue and different stuff and he had to overcome that," said Tigers head coach Cord Wright. "He understood that he needed to change his game and get a little more work in the gym. I saw his attitude go in a positive direction. That was good growth out of a freshman."

Stephenson produced his second double-double of the campaign with game-highs of 18 points and 10 rebounds to guide Northeast to an 87-68 win over Calhoun (Ala.) Community College in its final outing before the Christmas break.

The Hueytown, Ala., native accounted for a majority of his production in the opening half. Stephenson had 15 points, including five field goals and a perfect 5 of 5 showing at the charity stripe, plus seven boards before the break.

Stephenson's initial four points came in the middle of a 14-2 spurt by the Tigers that pushed their lead to double-digits for the first time. He later scored seven points in a row as part of a decisive 21-0 run from Northeast.

He drained a three-pointer to begin the second half as the Tigers built as large as a 32-point advantage over the Warhawks. Stephenson added five assists in a team-best 31 minutes on the floor.

"I was just playing as hard as I can," Stephenson said. "I've got excellent teammates. There are four other players in our starting lineup that could win this award. I'm just blessed to get it."

This is the second conference player of the week recognition for Stephenson so far this season. He captured his inaugural accolade after averaging 21.3 points and 8.3 rebounds over the course of three games in early November.

Most notable in that stretch was a career-best 35-point, 14-rebound double-double effort in a thrilling overtime victory versus East Central Community College inside Bonner Arnold Coliseum.

Stephenson also had 21 points and nine boards as Northeast picked up a marquee win over then-13th ranked John A. Logan (Ill.) College at the McDonald's Classic in Vincennes, Ind., later that week.

The 6-6, 200-pound guard tops the Tigers with 16.9 points and 6.5 rebounds per contest going into the start of MACCC play. Stephenson reached double figures during nine of Northeast's 12 non-conference matchups.

Original source can be found here.