EMCC looks to rebound on hardwood with division home openers Monday against Mississippi Delta
Preparing for the resumption of their MACJC North Division season schedule, the East Mississippi Community College basketball teams play host to Mississippi Delta Community College Monday night on the Scooba campus. A 5:30 p.m. women's game will be followed by a 7:30 p.m. men's contest at EMCC's Keyes T. Currie Coliseum.
SCOOBA – Preparing for the resumption of their MACJC North Division season schedule, the East Mississippi Community College basketball teams play host to Mississippi Delta Community College Monday night on the Scooba campus. A 5:30 p.m. women's game will be followed by a 7:30 p.m. men's contest at EMCC's Keyes T. Currie Coliseum.
Both East Mississippi squads will be looking to bounce back from Thursday road losses against rival Meridian Community College. Coach Sharon Thompson's EMCC Lady Lions are 5-6 overall on the year after falling at MCC, 62-57, and previously dropping a 67-65 home decision to East Central earlier in the week. Coach Mark White's Lions enter the week 8-3 overall following last week's 78-70 setback at Meridian CC. The EMCC men resumed post-holiday hoops action with a 92-79 home triumph over East Central last Tuesday.
EMCC's Lady Lions, the reigning MACJC North Division women's regular-season champions, successfully began defense of their third division title in six years with a 68-64 road victory over Northeast Mississippi last month (Dec. 4) in Booneville. Likewise, the Lions, with four consecutive NJCAA Region 23 and MACJC North Division championships between 2010 and 2013, are also 1-0 within the division to begin the year after claiming a 68-58 win at Northeast Mississippi a month ago.
Featuring all newcomers this season, the East Mississippi women are led in scoring by former Columbus High School All-American Ki-Ki Patterson, who is averaging a team-high 13.5 points per game as a collegiate rookie. Sophomore transfer forward Ashley Johnson, averaging 8.8 points and a team-best 10.0 rebounds an outing, most recently collected her fourth double-double of the season with 18 points and 17 rebounds at Meridian last Thursday.
With a dozen freshmen on their roster, EMCC's Lions are sparked by sophomore shooting guard Antonio Finley, a Meridian High School product who has reached double figures in all 11 contests this season en route to posting an 18.4 points-per-game scoring average on 39-percent shooting from beyond the three-point arc. Along the frontline, freshman forward Jahyde Gardiner is producing a steady 12.7 points a game on 55-percent shooting from the field along with pulling down a team-most 9.5 boards per contest.
The Trojans of Mississippi Delta are 5-6 overall and 1-0 in the MACJC North, while the Delta women are 3-8 overall and 0-1 within division play.
The East Mississippi basketball teams will hit the road later this week by traveling to Clarksdale for a Thursday hoops twinbill at Coahoma Community College.
All EMCC basketball games are slated to be video-streamed live and available via www.EMCCAthletics.com/live with EMCC Director of Digital Media Matt Pellegrin set to describe the play-by-play hoops action.