East Mississippi picks up third MACJC hoops sweep of young season with pair of wins at Pearl River

POPLARVLLE – The East Mississippi Community College basketball teams recorded their third MACJC doubleheader sweep of the young season with a pair of road wins over Pearl River Community College Thursday evening at Marvin R. White Coliseum.  The visiting Lady Lions held on for a 46-44 victory over the PRCC women in the opener, while the Lions remained unbeaten on the year with a 66-55 nightcap triumph over the NJCAA's preseason 12^th-ranked team.

EMCC's sweep of MACJC South Division foe Pearl River follows previous non-division hardwood sweeps over rivals Meridian and East Central earlier this month.

In the low-scoring women's contest, the visitors mounted a 22-14 lead after going on a 7-0 run keyed by an Anissia May 3-pointer and her subsequent pair of free throws.  With EMCC still leading by seven points (24-17), the Lady Wildcats scored the final eight points of the second quarter to take a slim 25-24 halftime edge.

The Lady Lions regained the lead following intermission and a Quantesha Patterson put-back basket to begin the fourth quarter gave them a 38-32 advantage.  The PRCC women responded with three free throws and a three-point basket by Asia Thibodeaux to knot the score at 38-all with 6:52 remaining in the contest.

Following two more ties, EMCC went back up by four points (46-42) on another May 3-pointer and a made free throw by Patterson.  A put-back basket by Pearl River's Shelanita Starks then cut the deficit in half with 1:42 left, but that bucket would mark the end of the game's scoring.

Missed shot attempts from the field by the Lady Wildcats were matched by a pair of turnovers and four misses from the charity stripe by EMCC down the stretch to result in the scoring dry spell.  EMCC's Ki-Ki Patterson went to the line with 3.2 ticks left with a chance to seal the victory.  Following the second miss, Pearl River grabbed the rebound and attempted to quickly push the ball the full length of the floor but could not manage to get off a shot prior to the final buzzer sounding.

In her first collegiate start, EMCC's May, from Jackson's Jim Hill High School, finished with a season-high 14 points.  Quantesha Patterson, the former East Webster High School standout, collected her third double-double of the year with 14 points and 13 rebounds.  Sophomore Camry Jones, a Nettleton High School product, added 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting along with eight rebounds and three blocks for the winners.

Coach Sharon Thompson's EMCC Lady Lions improved to 4-1 on the season heading into the Thanksgiving holiday break and will next take on Talladega College's junior varsity team in a rematch contest to be played Tuesday, Dec. 1, in Talladega.

Falling to 1-4 on the year, the PRCC women were led by Thibodeaux and Shaniqua Magee with 16 and 14 points, respectively, to account for 30 of the Lady Wildcats' 44 total points in the contest.

In the men's nightcap, a tightly contested opening 20 minutes of play resulted in a 27-27 deadlock at the half.  Sophomore Daniel Simmons provided some second-half spark for the Lions following the break with two quick buckets on a left-hand finish at the rim and a floater in the lane.  The former all-state selection from Biggersville tallied 11 points through the opening eight minutes of second-half play to help lift EMCC to a 50-35 advantage by the midway point of the second stanza.

The home team then made one final serious run, as sophomore guard William Brown nearly single-handedly brought the Wildcats back into the contest by scoring nine straight points himself over a two-minute span.  A subsequent basket in the lane by PRCC's Jabari Craig cut the deficit to four points (50-46) with five minutes remaining in the game.

The Lions responded with 10 unanswered points of their own, including two more baskets by Simmons and three made free throws by UT Martin signee Jahyde Gardiner, to re-establish command of the contest and result in the impressive double-digit victory over the reigning MACJC state champions.

Simmons scored 18 of his career-high 27 points in the second half to lead all scorers.  Gardiner also hit double figures with 11 points in the winning effort.

Coach Billy Begley's EMCC Lions head into the Thanksgiving break undefeated in six attempts on the year and will next play host to Faith Prep Academy on Monday, Nov. 30, on the Scooba campus.  Tip-off time is set for 6 p.m. at EMCC's Keyes T. Currie Coliseum.         

Dropping to 3-3 on the season with their third straight setback, the Pearl River men were led by Darrlyn Willis' 16 points, though the sophomore forward was held to just two second-half free throws after scoring 14 of the Wildcats' first 21 points through the first 15 minutes of the game.  Brown finished with 11 points on the strength of his late-game scoring surge.