EMCC Lions swept at home in division hoops play by Itawamba
The East Mississippi Community College basketball teams were swept by visiting Itawamba Community College during Thursday night MACJC North Division action played at Keyes T. Currie Coliseum. EMCC dropped a 62-57 decision in the women’s contest, while the Indians maintained their division lead with an 83-69 victory over the Lions in the nightcap.
SCOOBA – The East Mississippi Community College basketball teams were swept by visiting Itawamba Community College during Thursday night MACJC North Division action played at Keyes T. Currie Coliseum. EMCC dropped a 62-57 decision in the women's contest, while the Indians maintained their division lead with an 83-69 victory over the Lions in the nightcap.
In the opener, the ICC women used an 11-0 run late in the first quarter to gain the momentum. After trailing 17-11 at the end of the opening period, EMCC cut the deficit in half (35-32) by the intermission.
With Asia Partlow leading the way with seven third-quarter points, Itawamba reclaimed the six-point advantage by taking a 52-46 lead into the final period. EMCC later narrowed the deficit to just two points (44-42) with four minutes left in the third quarter before Zaida Cox's 3-pointer re-established the momentum for the visitors.
The Lady Indians then scored three straight baskets early in the fourth quarter to push a four-point lead to double digits. Later in the period, two clutch buckets by Jabria Pounds essentially sealed the five-point road win for ICC.
Falling to 9-5 overall and dropping their first division game in five outings, Coach Sharon Thompson's EMCC Lions were led by freshman Tyeisha Juhan's game-high 19 points. Reigning all-region performer Quantesha Patterson was limited to just four shot attempts in the game before finishing below her season averages with 11 points and six rebounds. EMCC freshman Kaisah Lucky registered her first collegiate double-double with 10 points and 11 boards.
Moving into a second-place tie with EMCC in the MACJC's North Division standings behind Northeast Mississippi, the 9-6 ICC women were led by Pounds' 17 points. Partlow contributed a double-double effort of 16 points and 12 rebounds to the winning effort.
In the men's nightcap, the Indians used a 9-2 run at the end of the first half to turn a 28-22 deficit into a 31-30 halftime lead. The margin grew to nine points before a David McFarland 3-pointer snapped an EMCC scoreless span of nearly six minutes.
After the visitors answered with nine straight points to push the lead to 15 points, ICC later extended the margin to a game-high 18 points (60-42) midway through the second stanza. The Lions did manage to trim the deficit to single digits (65-56) with seven minutes remaining in the contest, but Itawamba responded and maintained its double-digit cushion for the game's final 6:34.
Dropping to 6-8 overall and 2-3 within the division, Coach Billy Begley's EMCC Lions were led by McFarland's 21 points. Starkville's Keith Harris came off the bench to follow with 16 points.
Improving to 8-7 overall and a division-best 4-1, Itawamba was powered by Brian Halums' double-double performance of 24 points on 10-of-13 shooting to go along with his 15 rebounds. Charles Brown added 15 points to the winning effort.
The East Mississippi basketball teams will continue division action with Monday's road doubleheader against the Holmes Bulldogs. EMCC will then begin the second half of the MACJC North Division regular-season slate by traveling to Senatobia for a Thursday twin bill against Northwest Mississippi.