Butler and Henry combine for 49 points in 82-66 EMCC road win over East Central

East Mississippi Community College's basketball teams enjoyed a Thursday night sweep over East Central during MACCC hoops action played on the respective teams' home courts. The EMCC women avenged an earlier loss to ECCC by claiming a 64-53 home win in the rematch, while the visiting Lions continued their winning ways with an 82-66 road victory over the Warriors.

In men's play contested at Brackeen-Wood Gymnasium in Decatur, the Lions scored the game's first six points and then settled into a tight contest for the remainder of the opening half. Eight unanswered points by the visitors midway through the half opened up a nine-point lead (26-17) by the 9:05 mark.

After the Warriors pulled to within a basket (35-33) following two made technical free throws by Tai'Reon Joseph at the 1:28 mark, EMCC's Terrell Dixon's pair of baskets over the final 39 seconds of the half gave the Lions the 39-33 halftime advantage.

The Lions wasted little time increasing the margin to double figures coming out of the break. A three-point play by Dixon at the 12:48 mark put the visitors on top by 15 points (56-41). East Central managed to cut that deficit to seven points on a couple of occasions late in the contest, but the Lions outscored the Warriors, 11-2, over the game's last three minutes to pull away for the 16-point road triumph.

Sophomore guards Blake Butler and Kevin Henry combined for 49 of EMCC's 82 points, as Butler's game-high 26 points resulted in his 16^th career 20-point effort and Henry's 23 points were a new career high.

East Central was led by Joseph's 17 points, though the MACCC's leading scorer was limited to only 6-of-19 shooting and 0-of-8 from beyond the arc in being held to nine points below his season's scoring average. Julius Ellerbe recorded a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds for the Warriors.

In women's action played at Keyes T. Currie Coliseum in Scooba, the two teams battled to three early ties before the Lady Warriors grabbed a short-lived, four-point lead (12-8) late in the opening quarter. EMCC reclaimed the lead for good by scoring the last seven points of the quarter on a Hannah McDougle jumper followed by consecutive buzzer-beating baskets by Kennedi Jimison.

Forward Sukkima Suell then went to work inside for the Lady Lions during the second quarter. The Starkville product scored eight of EMCC's 11 points during the quarter on two baskets and four made throws. Suell scored 10 points and collected 11 rebounds by halftime to register her third career double-double and help the Lady Lions to a 26-21 lead by the break.

The visitors stayed close for the opening portion of the third quarter, pulling to within a point (34-33) following back-to-back inside baskets by Kaedre Denson. EMCC responded in a big way by scoring the last dozen points of the period and adding the first two buckets of the final quarter to extend the lead to 17 points (50-33) early in the fourth quarter.

EMCC's double-digit lead grew to as many as 19 points (60-41) midway through the quarter following consecutive made three-pointers by Gabby Collier. The Lady Lions' eventual 11-point victory avenged their 59-48 road setback to East Central back in November.

Suell finished with 12 points and a career-high 14 rebounds, while Jimison also scored a dozen points for the Lady Lions. Off the EMCC bench, Collier had nine points on a trio of made treys, while McDougle added eight points and seven rebounds.

Denson led the Lady Warriors with a game-high 20 points off the East Central bench.

East Mississippi's basketball teams will be back in action Monday (Feb. 13) against Hinds Community College. Head coach Billy Begley's EMCC Lions (17-3, 8-2 MACCC) will play host to the Hinds Bulldogs on the Scooba campus, while head coach Isaiah Butler's EMCC Lady Lions (6-11, 4-6 MACCC) will travel to Utica for women's action. Both contests are scheduled for 6 p.m. tip-offs.