Lions get back to .500 mark in MACCC play with 76-67 home win over Holmes

SCOOBA – The Lions of East Mississippi Community College reached the .500 mark in conference play with a 76-67 home win over Holmes during Thursday's MACCC basketball action. The Lady Lions dropped a 62-60 hard-luck decision to the visiting Lady Bulldogs to begin the twin-bill night at EMCC's Keyes T. Currie Coliseum.

Holmes owned the early advantage in the men's nightcap with Dacory Porter connecting on four three-pointers during the opening seven minutes of play to stake the Bulldogs to an 18-9 lead. The visitors remained in control with a 22-15 lead midway through the first half following back-to-back dunks by Hobert Grayson.

Sophomore guard Tremaine Dixon Jr. capped the Lions' subsequent 12-2 run with two made treys and a pair of free throws to put the home team on top, 27-24, by the 6:34 mark. EMCC maintained a 36-31 lead at the halftime break.

Holmes went on a 9-1 rally at the start of the second stanza to take a brief one-point lead (40-39) three minutes into the half before the Lions answered with seven straight points to reclaim the advantage. That margin later grew to 18 points (61-43) around the midway point of the half as part of EMCC's game-changing 22-3 run.

The Bulldogs made things interesting down the stretch by scoring 13 unanswered points to cut their deficit to five points (63-58) by the 6:12 mark. Reserve forward Sayerr Senghore then stepped up big for EMCC with a driving layup and a put-back basket that gave the Lions a nine-point lead that held up for the remaining five minutes as the final margin of victory.

Improving to 10-11 overall and 3-3 in MACCC play, the Lions were led by Dixon Jr.'s 24 points. As big contributors off the EMCC bench, Senghore finished with a season-high 15 points, on 5-of-7 shooting from the field and 5-of-6 free throws, plus nine rebounds, while Ashten Michael equaled his career high with 14 points.

With their leading scorer and rebounder on the year, Cameron Wallace, being limited to only one shot attempt in just 14 minutes of play due to foul trouble, the Bulldogs were led by Porter and Grayson with 25 and 20 points, respectively.

The visiting Lady Bulldogs led for most of the women's contest, though the Lady Lions had an opportunity down the stretch to either send the game into overtime or pull out the much-needed victory.

After taking a seven-point, first-quarter lead, Holmes maintained the advantage for most of the second quarter as well. The Lady Lions did manage to knot the score at 17-17 early in the period before trimming another seven-point deficit to a basket (27-25) late in the half following a Je'Niecia Hill three-point play and a Kiara Howard bucket. The momentum then began to swing back in Holmes' favor when Zi'A Shields hit a three-pointer at the halftime buzzer to put the visitors in front by five points (30-25) heading into intermission.

That spark continued for the Lady Bulldogs coming out of the break with six unanswered points to increase their lead to 11 points (36-25). EMCC responded with a Kennedi McCray basket and Kamaria Patrick's three-pointer to help the Lady Lions get back on track in the third quarter.

EMCC entered the final 20 minutes of play only down four points (46-42), but Holmes quickly doubled that margin with the first two baskets of the fourth quarter. The Lady Lions, though, responded with a 16-4 spurt that temporarily changed the game's momentum in their favor midway through the quarter.

After Howard's triple tied the game (52-52) at the 4:33 mark, EMCC grabbed its first lead since 7-6 on Kylah Bell's three-point play with 3:30 remaining in regulation. The Lady Lions then went up by four points on a couple of occasions before Kelsey Federick and Shields made consecutive baskets to tie the score at 60-60 heading into the final minute of play.

EMCC stumbled down the stretch by committing a pair of costly turnovers and not taking advantage of a critical trip to the charity stripe. Despite the miscues, the Lady Lions had an opportunity to tie the game back up during the final seconds. EMCC's Hannah McDougle collected Bell's free throw miss with 4.2 ticks left and quickly tossed the ball to Shalea Boddie, who couldn't convert the put-back attempt in the lane as the final buzzer sounded.

Falling to 3-17 overall with their ninth straight setback, the EMCC women were led by Bell's 15 points. Boddie and Howard followed with 12 and 10 points, respectively.

Shields paced all scorers with a game-high 25 points as Holmes' lone player scoring in double figures in the contest.

East Mississippi's basketball teams return to action Monday (Feb. 12) at Jones College before playing host to Mississippi Delta on Thursday (Feb. 15).