East Mississippi falls at Northeast Mississippi to begin second half of division hoops slate

BOONEVILLE – The East Mississippi Community College basketball teams opened the second half of regular-season MACJC North Division play by dropping a pair of hard-fought road decisions to Northeast Mississippi Community College Thursday night at Bonner Arnold Coliseum.  The EMCC women lost, 94-91 in double overtime, for the first time in division play this year, while the visiting Lions fell, 73-67, in the men's nightcap.

In the women's opener, the EMCC Lady Lions jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead on a pair of Quantesha Patterson baskets and a 3-pointer by Ki-Ki Patterson.  The visitors held the edge for the opening 15 minutes and owned a 19-16 lead after the first quarter.  With EMCC still leading, 25-20, early in the second quarter, the Lady Tigers ran off 11 unanswered points and went on to maintain a 37-27 halftime advantage.

Following intermission, EMCC erased a 12-point deficit midway through the third quarter by scoring the last 11 points of the period to trim the margin to just a single point (54-53) heading into the final quarter of regulation.  In the fourth quarter, the Lady Lions again fought back from a double-digit deficit to account for the last 11 points of regulation.  EMCC freshman Coco Hobson, from Brandon, scored seven points over the final three minutes and Columbus High School product Ki-Ki Patterson converted on a late layup following a backcourt steal by teammate Tianna Germain to send the contest into overtime.  Prior to that, both teams had opportunities over the final 20 seconds to win the contest in regulation but came up with empty possessions during crunch time.

The first extra session went back and forth for virtually the entire five minutes.  The Northeast women gained the late edge (78-77) on a driving score by Timaya Stewart.  The freshman guard scored again just under the one-minute mark to push the margin to three points.  The visitors evened the score at 80-all on a Bre Jernigan basket off another Germain steal followed by a 1-of-2 free throw effort by Jernigan on a subsequent possession.  Again, both teams came up empty on their final possessions during the last 13 seconds of the first overtime session.

The home-standing Lady Tigers grabbed the early momentum during the second overtime on a 3-pointer by Natasha Jones.  Northeast maintained the advantage until Ki-Ki Patterson hit a pull-up jumper to give EMCC a short-lived 89-88 lead with 1:23 left in the contest.  Christy Clark immediately followed with a drive to the basket to put the home team on top for good.  Northeast's Stewart sealed the victory with an acrobatic bucket and a pair of clutch free throws down the stretch to cap her team-high, 24-point scoring effort.

In having their six-game winning streak snapped while falling to 12-3 overall and 6-1 within the division, head coach Sharon Thompson's EMCC Lady Lions were led by Ki-Ki Patterson's career-high 27 points.  Hobson followed with a season-best 25 points, including 17 after halftime, while Quantesha Patterson registered her ninth double-double of her freshman season with 15 points and 12 rebounds.

Improving to 9-9 overall and 3-4 in division play, the Northeast Lady Tigers had five players score in double figures.  Following Stewart's 24 points, Clark and Bridgejae Patterson had 19 points apiece, while Jones and Shelby Wilbanks added a dozen points each in the winning effort.                       

In the men's nightcap, the EMCC Lions battled back from an early 13-4 deficit to take a 23-19 lead with six minutes remaining in the opening half.  After losing the lead late in the half, the visitors gained a 32-31 halftime edge on Nat Dixon's buzzer-beating 3-pointer.

Coming out of the break, the Tigers scored the first 10 points of the second half to move ahead, 41-32, less than three minutes into the half.  After finally getting back on the scoreboard with a pair of Jontavius Baker free throws at the 17:03 mark, it was another three minutes before the Lions registered their first made field goal of the half on a J'Vaughnte Harris drive to the basket.

After Northeast extended the margin to as many as 15 points on a couple of occasions during the opening seven minutes of the second stanza, EMCC gradually cut into the lead throughout the second portion of the half.  Twice the Lions managed to pull to within six points late in the game, but NEMCC's Jack Nichols saved his only two buckets of the game to thwart potential comebacks both times by the visitors.

Still trailing by eight points (71-63) with 48 seconds left, the Lions managed to cut the deficit in half on baskets by Daniel Simmons and David McFarland.  Battling through full-court defensive pressure during the waning seconds, Northeast got back to the charity stripe, where Kendarius Smith sealed the victory with a pair of free throws with just 17.9 seconds left.

Falling to 13-4 overall and 3-4 within the division, head coach Billy Begley's EMCC squad had four players score in double figures.  McFarland, out of Raymond High School, tied his season high of 14 points to lead the way.  Dixon, Simmons and Juan Davis Jr. followed with 12, 11 and 10 points, respectively.

Moving to 13-5 overall and 5-2 in division play, the Northeast men received identical double-double statistical efforts of 15 points and 12 rebounds from Leroy Buchanan and Wesley Harris.

The East Mississippi basketball teams will step out of division play for the final time this regular season when the Lady Lions play host to fifth-ranked Shelton State Community College Monday night (6 p.m.) on the Scooba campus.  The Lions will travel to Mobile on Monday to take on Spring Hill College's junior varsity team.