EMCC Lions earn hoops split at rival East Central with 76-62 men’s win and narrow 66-65 women’s setback

DECATUR – The visiting East Mississippi Community College basketball teams split with rival East Central Community College Thursday night in MACJC inter-divisional play at Brackeen-Wood Gymnasium.  The EMCC women couldn't quite overcome a 20-point, second-half deficit in falling by a single point, 66-65, while the Lions used a 13-0 spurt early in the second half to pull away with a 76-62 road victory in the nightcap.

To begin the night, the home-standing Lady Warriors scored the game's first seven points on the way to holding a 20-10 lead after the first quarter.  The margin grew to 21 points (33-12) midway through the second quarter before EMCC cut the deficit to 15 points (38-23) by scoring the last five points of the half.

Following a breakeven (17-17) third quarter, the visitors opened the final period on a game-changing 14-2 run that was ignited by the 1-2 punch of sophomore forward Quantesha Patterson and freshman guard Tyeisha Juhan.  Between them, they scored all 25 of the Lions' fourth-quarter points to make it a nail-biter down the stretch. 

After East Central went back up by eight points (64-56) with less than two minutes left to seemingly take back control, EMCC scored the next six points to make it a two-point contest.  The two teams then traded turnovers before the Lady Warriors maintained ball possession on a critical tie-up.  ECCC's Shadejha Brown was fouled in the backcourt and hit both free throws to extend it to a two-possession contest with just five seconds remaining.  Two ticks later, Patterson took an inbounds pass from Kaisah Lucky and converted a three-point play to give the Lions one final glimmer of hope.  But, Brown was again fouled in the backcourt and her two misses at the charity stripe with less than a second left in the game essentially ran out the clock and ended EMCC's valiant comeback attempt.

Patterson, an All-America candidate after earning All-Region 23 honors as a freshman, registered her 16^th career double-double and third of the year by finishing with season-high totals of 27 points (17 in the second half) and 14 rebounds to go along with four blocks and three steals on the defensive end. 

Juhan, the current NJCAA Division I and MACJC Women's Basketball Player of the Week, finished with 15 points, seven rebounds and three steals for EMCC.

Improving to 2-1 on the year, the Lady Warriors were led by Autumn Taylor's 18 points, while LaNeisha Jeans and Curtisha Coleman followed with 11 points apiece.

The men's nightcap stayed competitive throughout the first half with the home team owning six-point leads on a couple of occasions.  EMCC freshman point guard Job Vernor's 3-pointer late in the half cut the deficit to a single point (33-32) heading into intermission.

The three-point shot continued to fall for the Lions following the break, giving them momentum early in the second half.  Two more Vernor treys and another by Melvin Brooks III keyed a 13-0 run that gave the visitors a nine-point lead (47-38) by the 15:27 mark.

After the Warriors answered with a 9-3 spurt to pull to within three points (50-47), the Lions countered with a 12-4 run to put them on top by double figures (62-51) with seven minutes left in the contest.  The margin stayed at twin digits for the remainder of the contest en route to the 14-point triumph, marking EMCC's fourth straight win over East Central and 17^th victory in the last 18 series meetings with the Warriors dating back to the 2008-09 campaign.

Fresh off his 30-point, 10-rebound performance earlier in the week against Wallace-Selma, EMCC sophomore David McFarland, out of Raymond High School, paced the Lions with 23 points on 7-of-11 shooting, including 4-of-5 accuracy from behind the arc, along with eight rebounds, three steals, two assists and a block.

Vernor, a Center Hill High School product, finished with a season-high 21 points, including 14 in the second half, aided by 5-of-8 three-point shooting.  As a team, the 3-1 Lions were 13-of-24 (54%) from three-point range on the night.  Sophomore Anterio McKines, of Quitman, followed with 13 points.

Falling to 1-2 on the young season, the East Central men were led by Dalton Hanna's double-double effort of 11 points and 11 rebounds.  Cayman Ruffin and Jaquan Dotson followed with 10 points apiece.

Coach Sharon Thompson's EMCC women return to action Monday with a 5:30 p.m. home contest against Pearl River Community College.  They will then join head coach Billy Begley's Lions for a Thursday doubleheader rematch on the road against Wallace Community College Selma.