East Mississippi sweeps rival East Central at home with pair of nine-point hardwood triumphs

SCOOBA – The unbeaten East Mississippi Community College basketball teams claimed a home MACJC sweep over rival East Central Community College with a pair of nine-point wins Thursday evening at Keyes T. Currie Coliseum.  The Lady Lions earned an 84-75 victory over the ECCC women in the opener, while the Lions capped the successful night with a 73-64 win over the Warriors.

In the women's contest, the Lady Lions maintained control early with a 25-16 lead after the first quarter of play.  ECCC's Bryona Stewart's buzzer-beating 3-pointer cut the deficit to 41-38 heading into halftime.

EMCC extended its lead to a dozen points (58-46) with a 9-0 run capped by a three-point play by Cam Campbell late in the third quarter.  The Warriors did manage to slice the deficit in half (60-54) heading into the fourth quarter.  The visitors kept the margin at single digits throughout the final period, while getting as close as four points on four different occasions over the final four minutes of play.

After East Central pulled to within 79-75 with 1:18 remaining on Samantha Duncan's basket, sophomore transfer point guard Tianna Germain hit a pull-up jumper and added three charity tosses down the stretch to seal the victory for head coach Sharon Thompson's 3-0 Lady Lion squad.  

Reigning MACJC Player of the Week Quantesha Patterson continued her torrid play by adding 16 second-half points to her 15 first-half total to give her 31 points for the second straight contest.  The former East Webster High School standout hit 13-of-21 shots from the field and added nine rebounds in EMCC's most recent winning effort after recording her first collegiate double-double (31 pts & 11 rebs) during last week's 68-52 road victory over Meridian CC.

Sophomore guard Ki-Ki Patterson, of Columbus, followed with 16 points against East Central, while Germain and Camry Jones added nine points apiece for the winners.

The 2-1 ECCC women had four players in double figures, led by Duncan with 14 points and Miracle Rushing with 13 points.  Alexia McDonald and Johnta' Hughes followed with 11 and 10 points, respectively.

In the nightcap, head coach Billy Begley's EMCC Lions never trailed en route to their fourth victory in as many outings on the year.  A 10-point (33-23) halftime advantage grew to 16 points (47-31) early in the second half on the heels of back-to-back 3-pointers by Boston College transfer Nat Dixon.

The EMCC men maintained their double-digit cushion throughout the second stanza up until the four-minute mark when the Warriors made a couple of late-game pushes.  After East Central closed to within four points (63-59) by the 2:37 mark following a 3-pointer by Isaiah Traylor and two free throws from Derrick Dandridge, Dixon drilled another clutch trey to give the Lions some temporary breathing room.

The visitors made one final rally when Traylor hit another 3-pointer to again cut the deficit to four points (68-64) with 1:48 remaining.  The Warriors had a chance to make it a one-possession game following an EMCC turnover, but Prince McDaniel's off-balance shot in the lane rolled off the rim. 

Having signed his National Letter of Intent with the University of Tennessee at Martin earlier in the day, sophomore forward Jahyde Gardiner capped a career-high, 29-point performance with a three-point play with 32.8 seconds left to seal EMCC's doubleheader sweep over East Central.  A reigning all-state performer for the Lions, Gardiner connected on all six of his second-half field goal tries to finish with 19 points over the final 20 minutes of play.

Dixon, from Panama City, Florida, tallied all 13 of his points following the break, including 3-of-3 accuracy from beyond the arc after halftime.  Sophomore guard Daniel Simmons, of Biggersville, also scored in double figures (10) for the 4-0 EMCC Lions.

Dropping to 2-1 on the young season, the East Central men were led by Dandridge and Tonzell Handy with 14 points apiece.  Traylor and McDaniel also finished in double digits with 11 and 10 points, respectively.

The East Mississippi basketball teams will be back in action at home Monday night with another hoops doubleheader on the Scooba campus.  Following the Lady Lions' 5:30 p.m. contest against Lawson State Community College, the Lions will cap the night at Currie Coliseum with a 7:30 p.m. meeting versus Spring Hill College's junior varsity team.