EMCC sweeps Mississippi Delta in Scooba with 70-34 women's win and 84-70 men's victory

SCOOBA – The East Mississippi Community College women's basketball team maintained its MACJC North Division lead with an easy 70-34 home triumph over Mississippi Delta Community College, while the EMCC men completed the home sweep over the Trojans with an 84-70 victory Thursday at Keyes T. Currie Coliseum.

The front-running EMCC women scored the first six points of the contest en route to taking a 17-10 lead at the first-quarter break.  The Lady Lions increased their advantage to double digits in the second quarter and owned a 29-16 halftime margin.

Coming out of the intermission, EMCC scored seven straight points in the opening 47 seconds of the third quarter to extend the lead to 20 points (36-16) in the blink of an eye.  The Lady Lions then scored the final 11 points of the period to double-up Delta, 49-24, entering the final quarter.  A 21-10 fourth-quarter margin accounted for the final 36-point outcome.

Improving to 13-4 overall and 7-1 within the division, head coach Sharon Thompson's EMCC Lady Lions were again powered by the tandem of Ki-Ki Patterson and Quantesha Patterson with 19 and 17 points, respectively.  Freshman Coco Hobson recorded her first collegiate double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds for the winners.

Falling to 1-17 overall and 0-8 in division play, the Lady Trojans were led by Racquel Harper's seven points.

The men's nightcap featured seven ties before the Lions took a 36-31 halftime lead by virtue of a 7-2 run over the final five minutes of the opening stanza.

EMCC held the advantage until the Trojans went on an 8-0 spurt that gave the visitors a five-point lead (48-43) five minutes into the second half.  The Lions responded promptly with an offensive rebound basket by David McFarland and a Jahyde Gardiner 3-pointer to even the score back up at 48-all.

The home team went on a mini-run midway through the half to grab a 56-51 advantage.  However, the momentum switched for a brief moment when Delta's Dantaveous Crawford took advantage of a technical foul called on EMCC's Jontavius Baker by hitting four straight free throws to cut the deficit to a single point.

That seemed to be a rallying point for the home-standing Lions, who were coming off Monday's 108-56 blowout road win over Spring Hill College's junior varsity team in which they connected on 17 three-point baskets.  Fresh off his career-high, 19-point effort earlier in the week, including six second-half treys, Quitman product Anterio McKines connected on a clutch triple and a tough drive to the basket while Daniel Simmons added timely back-to-back 3-pointers to account for an 11-2 run that bumped the margin up to double digits and put the Lions in control.

Hitting six 3-pointers as a team over the final eight minutes of action, EMCC out-scored Delta, 28-15, during that game-ending stretch to claim the 14-point triumph and avenge last month's 85-72 setback to the Trojans in Moorhead.

Combining for 33 second-half points between them, Simmons and Gardiner finished the contest with 27 and 26 points, respectively.  With six 3-pointers, Simmons matched his career-high point total, while Gardiner benefitted from an 11-of-15 showing at the charity stripe and a trio of second-half treys.  Juan Davis Jr. scored 13 of his 15 points in the first half for head coach Billy Begley's 15-4, 4-4 EMCC Lions.

Dropping to 10-9 overall and 2-6 within the division, the Delta men were led by Willie Brunson's 24 points.

Heading down the final two weeks of the regular season, the East Mississippi basketball teams travel to Clarksdale for a Monday road doubleheader against the Coahoma Tigers before playing host to Itawamba Thursday on the Scooba campus.