EMCC opens week-long hoops home stand by splitting with Mississippi Delta in division play

SCOOBA – Tipping off a week-long hoops home stand, the East Mississippi Community College basketball teams split with visiting Mississippi Delta Community College Monday night at Keyes T. Currie Coliseum.  The EMCC women remained unbeaten in MACJC North Division play with a 74-59 win over Delta, while the Lions succumbed to the hot-shooting Trojans, 91-71, during the men's nightcap.

In the women's opener, EMCC withstood seven first-quarter 3-pointers by Delta to overcome an early deficit.  After the Lions trailed by five points early in the second quarter, sophomore Gabrielle Cole's put-back basket sparked an 11-0 run late in the half to give the home team a 43-34 halftime lead.      

The Lady Trojans pulled within seven points on a couple of occasions in the third quarter, but the Lions continued to build on their double-digit advantage heading into the final period.  From there, EMCC breezed to the 15-point victory and remained the lone unbeaten women's team in the MACJC North.

Improving to 9-4 overall and 4-0 in division play, head coach Sharon Thompson's EMCC Lions were paced by double-double efforts from Tyeisha Juhan and Quantesha Patterson.  A freshman from Jonesboro, Georgia, Juhan pumped in a season-high 30 points, including 18 after halftime, and added 10 rebounds for her third double-double of the season.  Patterson, a reigning all-region performer out of East Webster High School, registered her ninth double-double of the year and 22^nd of her collegiate career with 13 points and 15 rebounds. 

Also for the Lions, sophomore Anissia May scored all of her 11 points in the opening half, while freshman Kaisah Lucky added 10 points, seven assists and six rebounds for the winners.

Falling to 1-12 overall and 0-4 within the division, the Lady Trojans were led by Netanya Wilkerson and Ariana Sims with 17 and 15 points, respectively, as the tandem combined to drill nine of the team's 10 made 3-pointers in the contest.

The nightcap featured seven first-half ties, before the Delta men outscored the Lions, 13-5, over the final six minutes of the opening half to take a 39-31 lead into the halftime break.

With five made 3-pointers during the opening 20 minutes of play, the Trojans got on the scoreboard first to begin the second stanza on a triple by Xa'Vaier Jones.  EMCC was quickly able to cut the double-digit deficit to six points (42-36) on consecutive baskets by freshman Mitch Storm, but that's as close as the home-standing Lions would get the remainder of the contest.

After hitting 57 percent from the field in the first half, the visitors continued scorching the nets at a blistering pace following intermission.  Drilling 9-of-11 shots from beyond the three-point arc in the second half, the Trojans lengthened their lead to 19 points (74-55) with eight minutes left in the contest.

To their credit, the Lions responded by going on a 7-0 mini-run to cut the deficit to a dozen points and temporarily climb back into the contest with 6:21 left.  Delta countered by scoring eight unanswered points to increase the margin to 20 points (82-62) and essentially seal the victory for the visitors.

Falling to 6-7 overall and 2-2 within the division, head coach Billy Begley's EMCC Lions were led by Storm's season-high 19 points.  Starkville's Keith Harris added 16 points off the bench, while freshman Carlos Thomas followed with 10 points and a team-best nine rebounds. 

While shooting 58 percent (37-64 FGs) from the field as a team for the contest, including a red-hot 14-of-20 (70%) from three-point range, the Trojans improved to 7-8 overall and 2-2 in division action.  Jabarie Escoffery paced all scorers with a game-high 25 points on 10-of-15 shooting.  Jones followed with 15 points, while Michael Sission notched a double-double with 11 points and 16 rebounds for the winners.

The East Mississippi basketball teams stay at home to play host to divisional rival Itawamba Community College Thursday evening 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 EMCC's Currie Coliseum.