20th-ranked Lions hold on for 74-72 road win at Coahoma
EMCC's 20th-ranked Lions survived a late surge by Coahoma to hold on for a 74-72 road triumph over the Tigers during Monday's MACCC men's basketball contest held at the Pinnacle.
CLARKSDALE -- EMCC's 20th-ranked Lions survived a late surge by Coahoma to hold on for a 74-72 road triumph over the Tigers during Monday's MACCC men's basketball contest held at the Pinnacle.
The Lions scored 10 unanswered points to turn an early deficit into a 16-7 lead midway through the opening half. Following two ties later in the half, the visitors then reeled off nine straight points to take a 29-22 lead into halftime.
Following the break, EMCC seemed to take control of the contest early in the second half by scoring 14 unanswered points to open up a 19-point advantage. A floater by Kevin Henry around the eight-minute mark put the Lions on top, 57-38, in seemingly comfortable fashion.
Coahoma then began slowly chipping away at EMCC's lead largely in part to Quan Brown's second-half scoring exploits and eight made treys by the Tigers over the game's final 20 minutes. Six straight points by Brown first cut the deficit to 13 points (57-44), and then consecutive baskets by the reigning MACCC Player of the Week trimmed the margin to single digits (63-55) with two minutes remaining in the contest.
With EMCC's lead back up to double figures (67-57) entering the game's final minute, the Tigers exploded for five three-pointers during the last 51 seconds of action to cut bigger chunks out of the Lions' lead. As the visitors missed five free throws down the stretch, Coahoma managed to make it a one-possession game (72-69) on Trey Logan's banked trey with four ticks left. During the waning moments, Danny Washington's game-clinching free throws offset another Logan three-pointer at the final buzzer to account for the final two-point margin.
Improving to 14-4 overall and 7-2 in MACCC play, head coach Billy Begley's EMCC Lions were led by Jakorie Smith's 17th career double-double with 18 points and 12 rebounds. Blake Butler and Henry followed with 16 and 12 points, respectively, for the winners.
Falling to 5-12 overall and 1-7 within the conference, the Coahoma men were led by Brown's game-high 20 points – all in the second half due to first-half foul trouble. Logan and Jo Perez followed with a dozen points apiece, while Ben Galmore added 11 points for the Tigers.
The East Mississippi basketball teams are scheduled to continue MACCC action by taking on East Central Community College on Thursday (Feb. 3). The EMCC men are set to play host to the Warriors in Scooba, while the Lady Lions will travel to Decatur to meet ECCC in women's action. Both games are slated for 6 p.m. tip-offs.