East Mississippi basketball teams swept Thursday at Holmes in MACJC North Division road action

GOODMAN – East Mississippi Community College dropped a pair of double-digit road decisions to Holmes Community College Thursday evening in MACJC North Division basketball action played at Frank Branch Coliseum.  Following a 74-54 Holmes win in the women's contest, the home-standing Bulldogs gained early-season sole possession of first place with a 90-80 victory over the EMCC men in the nightcap.

In Thursday's opener at Holmes, the opening 20 minutes of play were closely contested as the teams battled through four ties and six lead changes.  After the Lady Bulldogs owned a five-point lead early in the game, the EMCC women came back to claim a slim 29-27 halftime edge.

The women's game remained a tight contest until the midway point of the second stanza when Holmes went on a game-deciding 9-1 run to pull ahead by 12 points (56-44) with 7:26 left.  From there, the Lady Lions could not cut into the double-digit deficit the rest of the game, as the margin grew to 21 points (67-46) by the 4:30 mark en route to the 20-point final outcome.

Falling to 7-8 overall and 3-2 in division play with a second straight league setback, head coach Sharon Thompson's EMCC squad was led by Camry Jones' 13 points as the lone Lady Lion player in double figures.

Improving to 11-5 overall and 2-3 within the division, the Lady Bulldogs received a game-high 29 points from Aja Williams.

Featuring a battle of unbeatens in division play, the EMCC men took early command in the nightcap as freshman guard La'Datren Deas came off the bench to hit his first four shots from the field and stake the visitors to a 22-14 lead midway through the opening half.  Aided by back-to-back 3-pointers late in the half by reigning NJCAA Division I Men's Basketball Player of the Week Antonio Finley, the Lions maintained a 39-32 halftime advantage.

With EMCC up 43-35 early in the second half, the Bulldogs went on an 11-2 spurt to retake the lead (46-45) on a 3-pointer by freshman standout Daryl Macon.  Following a couple of lead changes and deadlocks midway through the half, Holmes' Dietrich Taylor scored three straight buckets inside to put the Bulldogs on top for good.

The Lions got as close as five points (77-72) late in the game following a 3-pointer by freshman Daniel Simmons.  But, it was Macon, one of the NJCAA's leading scorers at 24.5 points per game coming into the contest, who helped seal EMCC's fate by scoring a dozen of his game-high 25 points over the final four minutes of the game, including a pair of late treys that essentially put the contest away for the home team.

Falling for the first time in five division outings this year, head coach Mark White's 11-4 EMCC Lions were led by Deas and Finley with 23 and 21 points, respectively.  Though limited to just one made field goal in four tries, EMCC freshman forward Jahyde Gardiner totaled 13 points, nine rebounds and four blocks.

Alone atop the MACJC North Division men's standings at 5-0, the 12-4 Holmes Bulldogs also received 18 points from Taylor, on 8-of-9 shooting, and 16 points from Marcus Washington.  

The East Mississippi basketball teams will play host to a pair of division foes this coming week on the Scooba campus.  With 5:30 p.m. women's games followed by 7:30 p.m. men's contests at EMCC's Keyes T. Currie Coliseum, EMCC will welcome Northwest Mississippi on Monday (Jan. 26) and Northeast Mississippi on Thursday (Jan. 29).  Both upcoming home hoops doubleheaders are slated to be video-streamed live on www.EMCCAthletics.com/live.