East Mississippi basketball teams successfully tip off new campaign with victories

SCOOBA – With five players scoring in double figures, the East Mississippi Community College men's basketball team successfully tipped off the 2016-17 campaign with a 107-72 home victory over Faith Prep Academy Tuesday night at Keyes T. Currie Coliseum. 

During a much more competitive season-opening women's contest played in Birmingham Tuesday evening, head coach Sharon Thompson's EMCC squad battled nip and tuck at Lawson State Community College before scratching out a 78-77 road victory.

EMCC's basketball teams return to action Thursday by playing host to rival Meridian Community College in a men's/women's doubleheader 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 Currie Coliseum.

With 13 newcomers and just two players returning from last year's 20-9 NJCAA Tournament team, head coach Billy Begley's new-look EMCC Lions jumped out to a quick 8-0 lead before Faith Prep got on the scoreboard at the 16:40 mark.  Sophomore David McFarland, EMCC's leading returning scorer from a season ago, led the way during the opening 20 minutes of play with 14 first-half points on 5-of-8 shooting.  EMCC shot 50 percent (16-32 FGs) from the field and connected on 23-of-30 free throws (77%) on the way to claiming a comfortable 57-32 halftime advantage.

The visiting Warriors from West Memphis, Arkansas managed to cut the deficit to 19 points (67-48) seven minutes into the second half, but the Lions went on an 11-2 run to further establish control of the contest.  With 72 total personal fouls called in the contest, Faith Prep had four players foul out by game's end. 

With all 12 available EMCC players getting into the scoring column, McFarland led the way with 17 points for the Lions.  The Raymond High School product also collected a career-high 10 rebounds to register his first collegiate double-double.

Also with a double-double performance in his collegiate debut, Horn Lake's Carlos Thomas tallied 14 points, including a perfect 10-of-10 from the charity stripe, along with pulling down 10 rebounds.  The Starkville tandem of Keith Harris and Josh Skinner had 15 and 12 points, respectively, while former Center Hill High School standout Job Vernor added 11 points.

As a team, EMCC shot 46 percent (32-69 FGs) from the field and 67 percent (38-57 FTs) from the line for the game.  The Lions also totaled 72 rebounds, led by freshman Mitch Storm's team-high 12 boards, along with recording nine blocked shots in the contest, including five blocks by Columbus' Quan Hines.

Paced by Jalan Roberson's game-high 24 points, Faith Prep's trio of 20-point scorers against EMCC also featured Denori Berry and Logan Willett with 22 and 20 points, respectively.

In season-opening women's action at Lawson State, visiting EMCC was led by freshman Georgia native Tyeisha Juhan, who scored a team-high 24 points in her collegiate debut.  Reigning NJCAA All-Region 23 performer Quantesha Patterson registered her 14^th career double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds, while Coco Hobson and La'Quesha Clemons also scored in double digits with 11 and 10 points, respectively, in the winning effort.