No. 19 Lions lead from opening tip to down visiting ICC 65-51

SCOOBA -- EMCC's 19th-ranked Lions led from start to finish in posting a 65-51 home triumph over Itawamba during Thursday's MACCC men's basketball action held at Keyes T. Currie Coliseum.

The home-standing Lions never trailed after jumping out to an early 9-1 lead six minutes into the contest. Sparked by Jakorie Smith's 16 first-half points, they then closed out the opening half with a 13-4 run to grab a 34-21 halftime advantage.

EMCC maintained control of the game and stretched the margin to 16 points (50-34) on Danny Washington's three-pointer at the midway point of the second half. Itawamba responded by scoring a dozen unanswered points during a four-minute span to cut the deficit to four points (50-46) with six minutes remaining in the contest.

The Lions halted ICC's comeback attempt by scoring eight straight points of their own to bump the margin back up to double figures for good. Two baskets by Smith and a Traemond Pittman triple increased EMCC's lead to 58-46 with four minutes left.

The Indians would get no closer than 10 points the rest of the way, as the EMCC men extended their consecutive series win streak over Itawamba to nine games dating back to the 2017-18 season.

With head coach Billy Begley's EMCC Lions improving to 16-5 overall and 9-3 in conference play, Smith paced all scorers with 24 points on 9-of-12 shooting from the field. Pittman and Washington followed with 12 and 11 points, respectively, for the winners.

Falling to 10-9 overall and 4-8 within the MACCC, Itawamba was led by Fred Cleveland Jr. and Daniel Mayfield with 14 points apiece.

Entering the final week of regular-season MACCC competition, the East Mississippi basketball teams will meet Meridian on Monday (Feb. 14). With the EMCC women playing host to the Lady Eagles in Scooba and the Lions traveling to Meridian for men's action, both contests are scheduled to tip off at 6 p.m.