East Mississippi remains unbeaten in division play with Thursday road hoops sweep over Coahoma

CLARKSDALE – The East Mississippi Community College basketball teams shook off early-game sluggishness Thursday evening to post double-digit road victories over Coahoma Community College and remain undefeated in MACJC North Division play.  Following the Lady Lions' 62-46 win, the Lions completed EMCC's third division sweep of the season with an 81-66 triumph over the Tigers at the Pinnacle on the CCC campus.

In the women's contest, the home-standing Lady Tigers jumped out to an early 7-2 lead and held the advantage until midway through the opening half.  The visitors grabbed their first lead (18-17) on an Annessia Durham bucket and stayed in front the remainder of the contest.

A 28-24 EMCC halftime lead reached double figures (44-34) on a 3-pointer by Ki-Ki Patterson with around eight minutes left in the game.  The margin stayed in double digits the rest of the way en route to the 16-point final outcome.

Coach Sharon Thompson's EMCC Lady Lions improved to 7-6 overall and 3-0 in division play as the reigning MACJC North Division champions.  Patterson, the former Columbus High School All-American, led all scorers with 13 points, while sophomore transfer Ashley Johnson registered her fifth double-double of the season with 12 points and 12 rebounds for the winners.

Dropping to 2-10 overall and 0-3 within the division, the Coahoma women only had Erica Collins in double figures with 10 points.

In the nightcap, the visiting Lions also got down early and trailed 9-3 four minutes into the contest.  With Antonio Finley and Jahyde Gardiner combining for 21 of the team's 32 first-half points, EMCC cut the deficit to a single point (33-32) by halftime.

Intermission seemed to energize the road team with the Lions scoring 20 unanswered points after the break to go on top, 52-33, following a Finley 3-pointer at the 13:20 mark.  The EMCC men remained in control the rest of the contest, as the Tigers could only get as close as nine points (66-57) down the stretch.

Improving to 10-3 overall and 3-0 in the MACJC North, head coach Mark White's EMCC Lions featured balanced scoring once again with four players hitting double figures.  Nailing seven 3-pointers in 15 attempts, Finley, a Meridian High School product, paced all scorers with 23 points.  Freshman guard La'Datren Deas, of Pascagoula, followed with 21 points, while Gardiner recorded his sixth double-double of the campaign with 13 points and 11 rebounds.

Now 1-11 overall and winless in three division contests, the Coahoma Tigers also had four players scoring in double digits.  Demarcus Bracey and LaTerrence Henderson tallied 13 and 12 points, respectively, to lead the way for CCC.

The East Mississippi basketball teams return to action Tuesday night when they entertain Itawamba Community College in an MACJC North Division hoops doubleheader at EMCC's Keyes T. Currie Coliseum.  A 5:30 p.m. women's game will be followed by a 7:30 p.m. men's contest on the Scooba campus.  Both games are also slated to be video-streamed live on www.EMCCAthletics.com/live.