EMCC Lions drop rubber match to Southwest, 97-85, in Region 23 hoops tourney

SCOOBA — Despite overcoming an early 14-point deficit, the sixth-seeded Lions of East Mississippi Community College dropped a 97-85 second-round decision to 11^th-seeded Southwest Mississippi during Thursday's men's action of the NJCAA Region 23 Basketball Tournament played at EMCC's Keyes T. Currie Coliseum.

Ignited by Mykayle Carter's pair of game-opening three-pointers, the visiting Bears jumped out to an early double-digit lead in the season's rubber match between the two inter-divisional foes.  During the month of February, the Bears claimed a 90-83 overtime road win (Feb. 6) over EMCC in Scooba.  Three weeks later in Summit (Feb. 27), the Lions returned the favor with a narrow 76-75 road victory over Southwest.   

After EMCC cut the deficit to five points (25-20) in the rematch on a pair of Arecko Gipson Jr. free throws at the 7:41 mark, Southwest scored nine unanswered points to open up a 34-20 advantage with five minutes remaining in the first half.

With SMCC still leading by double figures (39-28) with 2:20 left in the half, the Lions outscored the visitors, 11-4, during the final couple of minutes to trim the margin to four points (43-39) by halftime.

Despite Gipson and Jakorie Smith, who scored 15 first-half points, being saddled with three fouls each early in the second half, the Lions managed to gradually cut into Southwest's lead before taking their first lead (55-53) of the game at the 14:20 mark on Hunter McCutcheon's three-pointer.  Building as much as a six-point lead (65-59) on Smith's third three-point play of the game with 11 minutes remaining, EMCC held the advantage for a seven-minute span during the second stanza.

Following a Nick Walker trey that put the Lions on top, 70-66, Southwest responded with a game-changing 10-0 spurt that was ignited by three-pointers from Javius Moore and Mazae Blake.  After the Bears increased their lead back up to nine points, EMCC made one final push by scoring six straight points to trim the margin to three points (85-82) with less than three minutes left on the game clock.

Querrion Gadson's tip-in and Moore's basket following an EMCC turnover sparked a 12-0 Southwest run that sealed the 12-point road triumph for the Bears.

Smith finished with a game-high 22 points – his seventh 20-point outing of his EMCC career – on 5-of-10 shooting from the field and a perfect 11-of-11 from the charity stripe.  Walker recorded his fifth double-double of the season with 17 points and 10 rebounds, while McCutcheon and Traemond Pittman followed with 15 and 10 points, respectively, for the Lions.

Featuring seven players scoring in double figures in the win, the Bears shot 52 percent (30-58 FGs) overall from the field, 39 percent (10-26 treys) from beyond the arc, and 79 percent (27-34 FTs) from the free throw line.  Blake and Moore led Southwest with 17 and 15 points, respectively.

Coach Billy Begley's 11-6 EMCC Lions also shot well during the offensive showdown, connecting on 27-of-54 (50%) field goals, 6-of-14 (43%) treys and 25-of-35 (71%) free throws.