Trio of EMCC Lions earn All-MACCC men's basketball honors

JACKSON – Four East Mississippi Community College student-athletes have been selected to the 2023-24 All-MACCC basketball teams, as voted on by the league's head basketball coaches. The men's and women's all-conference basketball teams were announced Tuesday by the Mississippi Association of Community Colleges Conference.

For head coach Billy Begley's EMCC Lions, sophomores Andrew Mason and Nick Walker were named All-MACCC Second Team, while fellow sophomore Tremaine Dixon Jr. earned honorable mention recognition. For head coach Isaiah Butler's EMCC Lady Lions, sophomore guard Kylah Bell was chosen All-MACCC Second Team.

Mason ranked as the Lions' leading scorer this past season, averaging 16.3 points per game as EMCC's lone player to have started all 28 games on the year. He scored in double figures in all but two games during the season, highlighted by seven 20-point scoring efforts, including a career-high 32 points at Copiah-Lincoln. In addition to ranking sixth among the MACCC leaders with an average of 1.9 steals per game, Mason finished 2023-24 as the team's No. 2 playmaker with 59 assists on the year. He also posted career-best shooting percentages of 47 percent overall from the field and 72 percent from the free throw line as a sophomore.

A former 5^th Region Player of the Year and Kentucky-Ohio All-Star Game selection out of Bardstown, Kentucky, Mason completed his two-year EMCC playing career having totaled 696 points (12.9 ppg), 196 rebounds (3.6 rpg), 97 assists (1.8 apg) and 77 steals (1.4 spg).

Walker, a two-time MACCC Men's Basketball Player of the Week selection this season, ranks as the conference's third-leading rebounder (9.5 rpg) and was EMCC's No. 3 scorer on the year with an average of 13.4 points per game. The third-year sophomore forward posted nine double-doubles this past season, headlined by career highs of 27 points (vs. Jones) and 18 rebounds (vs. East Central).

A Hattiesburg native, Walker recorded 21 career double-doubles for EMCC while having amassed 771 total points (11.3 ppg) and 580 career rebounds (8.5 rpg). A member of the Lions' 2022 MACCC Tournament championship team before stepping away from college during the 2022-23 basketball season, Walker completed his EMCC playing days with career shooting percentages of 57 percent overall from the field and 68 percent from the charity stripe.

Dixon Jr. ranked as EMCC's second-leading scorer with an average of 14.1 points per game this past season along with having topped the Lions with 3.8 assists an outing. As a 40-percent shooter from the field and 79-percent marksman from the line, he also finished second on the team with 45 made three-pointers on the year. Having scored 20 or more points six times in 2023-24, Dixon's sophomore season was highlighted by back-to-back games in which he scored a career-high 34 points at Coahoma and then followed later in the week with 28 points against East Central. He also put together consecutive scoring efforts of 28 and 27 points versus Southern-Shreveport and Southern Union State, respectively, during this year's Pearl River Classic.

A product of Raymond High School, Dixon Jr. completed his two-year EMCC career with 608 total points (11.7 ppg) and 179 assists (3.4 apg). He also posted career shooting percentages of 38 percent overall from the field, including 84 made three-pointers, and 76 percent from the free throw line.

On the women's side, Bell ranked as EMCC's leading scorer on the year with per-game averages of 13.9 points and 3.9 rebounds per game. Those averages increased in conference play to 15.2 points and 4.7 rebounds during MACCC contests. Bell also led the Lady Lions with 31 made three-pointers this past season. The Pass Christian native posted double-digit scoring totals in 14 of her 18 outings on the year, including a trio of 20-point efforts.