EMCC Lions sweep rival Meridian on the hardwood with 79-57 women’s win and 72-61 men’s victory

SCOOBA – East Mississippi Community College swept rival Meridian Community College on the hardwood for the third straight time with a pair of home victories over the visiting Eagles Thursday night at Keyes T. Currie Coliseum.  Following a 79-57 win in the women's game, the EMCC Lions completed the sweep with a 72-61 triumph in the nightcap.

In the opening contest, the EMCC women scored the first 11 points of the second quarter, including a trio of 3-pointers, on the way to holding a 37-26 halftime lead.  The Lions maintained their double-digit advantage throughout the second half en route to the convincing 22-point victory.

Georgia native Tyeisha Juhan, coming off her 22-point collegiate debut in Tuesday's 78-77 EMCC win at Lawson State, again led the Lions with a game-high 21 points versus Meridian.  She also added a team-high nine rebounds to go along with three assists and three steals.  Sophomore Quantesha Patterson tallied a dozen second-half points to finish with 14 points for the winners.

The 1-1 Lady Eagles were led by Qiayon Bailey's 19 points, followed by Rokila Wallace and Shannon Tate with 11 and 10 points, respectively.

The EMCC men also improved to 2-0 on the young season by outscoring Meridian, 23-6, over the game's final 5:36.  Down by six points (55-49), the Lions reeled off 11 unanswered points over a three-minute span to go ahead, 60-55, with 2:46 remaining.  As EMCC was icing the game at the charity stripe down the stretch, the Eagles were held to a single made field goal and four free throws during the Lions' game-changing surge.

With the home-standing Lions taking a 39-36 halftime lead on Mitch Storm's 3-pointer, the competitive men's contest featured 14 lead changes and eight ties.

Balanced scoring once again prevailed for the EMCC men with four players in double digits.  Sophomore David McFarland led the winners with 13 points, including 7-of-7 from the line.  Freshmen Keith Harris and Job Vernor added a dozen points apiece.

In their season opener, the Eagles were paced by Devin Paicley-Smith's game-high 20 points.  Tevin Smith added 11 points for the visitors.

East Mississippi's current string of basketball sweeps over Meridian dates back to last season when the Lions swept doubleheaders played in both Scooba and Meridian.

EMCC stays at home to play host to Wallace State Community College Selma on Monday.  A 5:30 p.m. women's game will be followed by a 7:30 p.m. men's contest at Currie Coliseum on the Scooba campus.