East Mississippi steps out of MACJC hoops play to sweep visiting Delgado CC to begin the week

SCOOBA – The East Mississippi Community College basketball teams swept visiting Delgado Community College Monday evening in their final non-conference action of the regular season.  Following the Lady Lions' 70-42 blowout win over DCC, the EMCC men held off the Dolphins, 94-90, in the nightcap played at Keyes T. Currie Coliseum. 

Nearly two months removed from EMCC's dramatic 71-68 road win over Delgado back in December on Antonio Finley's buzzer-beating, game-winning 3-pointer, Monday's rematch proved to be an equally competitive contest.  After the visitors took the initial lead, the Lions used an 11-0 run to establish control of the contest.  With Finley as well as freshmen Jahyde Gardiner and Daniel Simmons each scoring 11 first-half points, EMCC took a 46-38 halftime lead. 

That advantage was extended to 15 points (66-51) by the 11:38 mark of the second stanza and still stood as a 12-point margin (70-58) midway through the half.  At that point, the Dolphins used an 11-0 spurt of their own to get back into the contest.  Delgado even took a brief lead (73-72) at the 6:37 mark on a pull-up jumper by Markel Williams.  Finley's fifth trey of the game ended the run and put EMCC back on top to stay. 

However, just as the Lions seemed to be pulling away again with a 10-point lead (88-78) with less than two minutes remaining, the Dolphins made another valiant comeback attempt.  Fueled by a pair of 3-pointers from Williams and a basket by Dustin Cousin, Delgado quickly scored eight straight points to cut the deficit to two points (88-86) with a minute left on the game clock.  With the visitors forced to foul down the stretch, Simmons nailed four clutch free throws over the final eight seconds to secure the four-point win for the home team. 

Head coach Mark White's 14-4 EMCC Lions, now 9-0 at home on the year, were led by Finley and Simmons with 20 points apiece, while Gardiner registered his eighth double-double of the season with 16 points and 11 rebounds.  Freshman guard La'Datren Deas followed with 14 points, including 4-of-5 shooting from the field during his 10-point second half. 

Falling to 10-14 overall, the Delgado men received a game-high 30 points from Williams. 

During Monday's opener with both teams suiting up only eight players for the contest, the women's game didn't quite have the drama as the men's nightcap.  The home-standing Lady Lions surged out to a 16-4 advantage five minutes into the game and maintained a 37-26 halftime lead. 

The margin steadily increased to 20 points (48-28) by the 15:47 mark of the second stanza, as EMCC scored 11 of the half's first 13 points coming out of the intermission.  The Lady Lions maintained their comfortable double-digit margin throughout the second half en route to their convincing 28-point triumph. 

Head coach Sharon Thompson's 9-9 EMCC Lady Lions were paced by former Columbus High School All-American Ki-Ki Patterson and Camry Jones with 20 points apiece, including 14 first-half points from both players. 

The Delgado Lady Dolphins, falling to 6-16 on the season, were led by Kayla Smothers and Kadija Garner with 18 and 12 points, respectively.      

The East Mississippi basketball teams are set to resume MACJC North Division play Thursday by traveling to Moorhead to take on Mississippi Delta Community College.  EMCC's road hoops doubleheader is slated to be video-streamed live on www.EMCCAthletics.com/live.