EMCC Lions drop first home decision of season to Holmes; Lady Lions earn 72-71 "Sophomore Night" victory

SCOOBA – The East Mississippi Community College basketball teams closed out the home portion of their regular-season slate by splitting with Holmes Community College during Monday's "Sophomore Night" doubleheader on the Scooba campus.  Following the Lady Lions' 72-71 win at Keyes T. Currie Coliseum, the visiting Bulldogs handed the Lions their first home loss of the season with a 74-64 decision to claim the MACJC North Division men's title. 

In the opening game of the night, the EMCC women never trailed during the first 20 minutes of play en route to owning a 36-30 halftime advantage.  On her 20^th birthday, Lady Lion freshman guard Ki-Ki Patterson provided the momentum for the home team by scoring 16 first-half points. 

With both teams battling for postseason seeding heading into next week's MACJC State Basketball Tournament, the second half featured eight lead changes and four ties.  Late in the second stanza following a pair of free throws by Holmes' LaShonda Wilson that put the visitors up by four points (63-59) with four minutes remaining, the Lady Lions used 1-of-2 free throw efforts by Patterson and Bre Jernigan and a game-tying drive to the basket from Camry Jones to deadlock the contest for the sixth time overall. 

A subsequent Lady Bulldog turnover set the stage for perhaps the game's biggest play.  Sophomore transfer forward Ashley Johnson connected on just her second three-point field goal of the season in only her fifth attempt from beyond the arc to stake the Lady Lions to a 66-63 lead with 1:45 remaining in the contest.  

There was additional drama over the game's final 20 seconds after Patterson's pull-up jumper put EMCC on top by four points (71-67).  After Minyone Hill's two free throws made it a two-point game again, Patterson hit 1-of-2 charity tosses with 10.3 ticks left to keep it a one-possession game.  With Holmes down by three points (72-69), Hill then opted to take the ball to the basket in closing the deficit to a single point but with only 3.6 seconds left to play.  Following the made basket, Patterson was trapped in the backcourt and tied up by Lady Bulldog defenders.  However, Holmes was not able to get off a final shot with a mere one-tenth of a second left on the game clock. 

Patterson, a former Columbus High School All-American, finished with a game-high 22 points for her eighth 20-point effort of the campaign.  Freshman guard T.J. Harper, of Germantown High School, added a season-best 15 points for the winners, as head coach Sharon Thompson's EMCC Lady Lions improved to 11-11 overall and 6-5 in division play to move into a third-place tie with Holmes. 

Falling to 15-7 and 6-5 in division play, the Lady Bulldogs were led by Tiffany Jones with 13 points. 

In the men's battle for the MACJC North Division regular-season championship, the home-standing Lions held the advantage for a majority of the opening half.  An early 12-4 East Mississippi lead dissipated briefly as Holmes' backcourt tandem of Jarvis Williams and D'Angelo Richardson connected on five 3-pointers between them during an eventful stretch midway through the first half that also featured highlight-reel dunks by EMCC freshmen Juan Davis Jr. and Daniel Simmons.  Through it all, the Lions managed to cling to a 31-30 halftime lead. 

The visiting Bulldogs took control in the second half as the Lions went 10 minutes without a made field goal.  Between a game-tying 3-pointer by sophomore guard Antonio Finley at the 11:40 mark and an inside bucket by Jahyde Gardiner with 1:38 remaining, EMCC could only manage seven points on 7-of-8 free-throw shooting.  Meanwhile, a 45-45 deadlock turned into a 62-52 Holmes advantage with Richardson's shot clock-beating trey at the 2:30 mark. 

From there, the Lions could only get as close as five points (65-60) following a 3-pointer from Chris Rhoney with just under a minute remaining.  Holmes, now 17-5 overall and 10-1 within the division, secured their 10-point win and season sweep of EMCC by converting 7-of-8 free throws down the stretch.  Daryl Macon tallied 16 of his game-high 21 points in the second half to lead all scorers for the Bulldogs. 

Head coach Mark White's 17-5 EMCC Lions fell at home for the first time in 11 decisions on the year as well as dropping to 9-2 in division play with both losses coming at the hands of Holmes.  In their home finale, the Lions were led by Gardiner and Rhoney with 13 and 11 points, respectively. 

The East Mississippi basketball teams will close out their regular-season slate by taking on Northwest Mississippi Community College Thursday evening in Senatobia.  At next week's (Feb. 23-26) MACJC State Basketball Tournament, to be hosted by Copiah-Lincoln Community College in Wesson, first-round women's action tips off Monday followed by men's opening-round play on Tuesday.