Lions remain tied atop MACJC North Division standings with 56-47 road win over Coahoma
The EMCC Lions remained tied for first place atop the division standings by claiming a hard-fought 56-47 road decision over Coahoma during Thursday’s MACJC North Division basketball action played at the Pinnacle. The visiting Lady Lions posted their 13th consecutive victory and remained perfect in division play with a 67-50 win over the Lady Tigers in women’s action.
CLARKSDALE – The EMCC Lions remained tied for first place atop the division standings by claiming a hard-fought 56-47 road decision over Coahoma during Thursday's MACJC North Division basketball action played at the Pinnacle. The visiting Lady Lions posted their 13th consecutive victory and remained perfect in division play with a 67-50 win over the Lady Tigers in women's action.
In the men's nightcap, both teams struggled offensively with the Lions shooting just 31 percent (19-61 FGs) from the field for the game and the Tigers only slightly better at 32 percent (17-53 FGs). After EMCC opened up an eight-point lead (18-10) by the 8:22 mark of the opening half, Coahoma went on an 8-2 run to cut the deficit to two points (20-18) with 3:24 remaining until intermission.
Following the halftime break, the Lions scored the first six points of the second stanza to grab an 11-point lead (35-24). The Tigers countered with seven unanswered points to get back to within four points (35-31) with 14:08 left in the contest. From there, the visitors attempted to reclaim their double-digit margin. A 3-pointer by Arecko Gipson Jr. at the 5:24 mark made it happen, while Quamontae Monfort's inside bucket then gave EMCC its largest lead of the game (51-39) with three minutes left to play.
Raising their overall record to 15-5 with the nine-point road win and maintaining their first-place tie with Northeast Mississippi at 8-1 within the MACJC North Division men's standings, Coach Billy Begley's EMCC Lions were paced in the scoring column by Gipson's 13 points. Danny Washington followed with 10 points, while Jakorie Smith collected eight points and 13 rebounds during the winning effort.
Dropping to 7-12 overall and 2-7 within the division, the Coahoma men were led by Cortez McCarty and Cavin Paige with 16 and 12 points, respectively.
In women's action, the Lady Lions' 14-0 start through the game's first five minutes dictated the eventual outcome. On the heels of grabbing a 21-7 lead at the end of the opening quarter, EMCC's advantage quickly grew to 21 points (30-9) midway through the second quarter following back-to-back baskets by two-time MACJC Player of the Week Ja'Mia Hollings.
After Aamiya Rush's 3-pointer gave the visitors a 40-16 halftime cushion, the Lady Lions lengthened the margin to 26 points on a couple of occasions in the third quarter. Rush's second trey of the game came at the end of the quarter and halted a 7-0 Coahoma run to push the lead back up to 21 points (57-36). The Lady Tigers managed to outscore EMCC, 14-10, during the fourth quarter, though the Lady Lions easily went on to notch their sixth double-digit division win of the year.
With their 13th consecutive win of the season, Coach Sharon Thompson's EMCC Lady Lions improved to 18-2 overall while remaining perfect at 9-0 in MACJC North Division play. With four double-figure scorers against Coahoma, reigning all-conference guard Tye Metcalf led the way with 15 points. Rush approached a double-double with 13 points and eight rebounds, while Hollings and Topazia Hawkins added 11 and 10 points, respectively, for the winners.
Falling to 9-10 overall and 3-6 within the division, the home-standing Lady Tigers were led by Brailyn Tate and Amaria Strong with 12 and 11 points, respectively.
The East Mississippi basketball teams will return home to play host to the Rangers of Northwest Mississippi in a Monday night hoops 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 EMCC's Keyes T. Currie Coliseum.