Lions hold on for 58-57 hoops win at Holmes to improve to 12-2 overall and 3-1 in MACCC

East Mississippi Community College held on for men's and women's basketball wins against Holmes during Thursday's MACCC action played on the teams' respective campuses. The EMCC women had four players score in double figures to claim a 70-67 home win over the Lady Bulldogs, while the Lions improved to 12-2 overall and 3-1 in league play with a narrow 58-57 road win over Holmes.

In the men's game contested at Frank Branch Coliseum, the visiting Lions held an early 15-7 lead with the aid of three Blake Butler three-pointers. Holmes answered with a 12-1 run to grab a 19-16 advantage on Jamar Jenkins' trey midway through the opening half.

With the exception of three ties over the final 9:20 of the half, the Bulldogs maintained their lead heading into the break. Following a seventh deadlock of the half, Holmes used an 8-2 run to take its biggest lead (37-31) of the game into halftime.

Coming out of intermission, Kevin Henry scored EMCC's first seven points of the second half to knot the score at 38-38. His reverse layup sparked an 11-0 run that put the visitors on top, 48-40, with Tremaine Dixon Jr.'s three-pointer at the 11:30 mark.

The Lions maintained their eight-point advantage until Holmes scored 10 unanswered points to briefly take a 57-55 lead by the 1:30 mark following back-to-back baskets by Jalen Tatum. EMCC responded with Andrew Mason's pull-up three-pointer to reclaim the lead at 58-57 with 1:06 remaining in the contest.

Neither team managed to score during the final minute of play, as the Bulldogs had a pair of costly turnovers while trying to grab back the lead. On the game's final possession, Tatum missed on his drive down the middle of the lane. The rebound was tipped outside, but Holmes' Dacory Porter couldn't get a shot off in time before the final buzzer sounded.

Butler led the EMCC men with 15 points on four made treys, followed by Henry and Mason with 11 and 10 points, respectively. Jacob Reese's game-high 18 rebounds were instrumental in the Lions' 36-25 rebounding advantage.

Holmes' Tatum led all game scorers with 23 points on 10-of-12 shooting from the field. Caleb Kent added a dozen points off the Bulldogs' bench with five field goals in as many attempts.

In women's action played at Keyes T. Currie Coliseum, the Lady Lions held the advantage for most of the opening half of play. After owning a 17-13 lead at the quarter break, EMCC scored the first six points of the second quarter to go up by double digits (23-13).

Holmes responded by making a 19-4 run to move ahead, 32-27, late in the half. EMCC, however, was able to gain back some momentum heading into intermission with Kennedi Jimison's three-point play with 20.5 seconds left in the half.

The contest stayed within a three-point margin for the opening portion of the third quarter with three ties and four lead changes. After Holmes took advantage of consecutive EMCC turnovers to grab a 46-42 lead at the 3:51 mark, the Lady Lions scored the last 13 points of the quarter to take a 55-46 lead into the fourth quarter.

EMCC's advantage grew to 18 points (66-48) three minutes into the final period on Jada Odneal's basket to cap a 24-2 run over a seven-minute stretch the spanned the third and fourth quarters. Nakeria Scales and Sadie Williams combined for 14 points during the game-changing surge for the Lady Lions.

The visitors from Goodman were not done, however, as Mississippi College transfer Ally Alford sparked a 13-2 Holmes run with a trio of three-pointers to cut the deficit to seven points (68-61) with 4:39 remaining in the contest.

Another Alford triple – her sixth of the game – further trimmed EMCC's lead to three points by the 2:40 mark. Neither team was able to generate any additional offense the rest of the way, as Holmes missed a pair of potential game-tying, three-point attempts over the final minute of play.

For EMCC, Sukkima Suell recorded her first collegiate double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds, while Scales registered her second double-double of the season with 12 points (6-9 FGs) and 10 boards. Williams totaled a career-high 16 points along with seven rebounds and five assists. Jimison added 11 points for the winners.

Holmes' Alford paced all scorers with a game-high 23 points. Danielle Luckey followed with 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting from the field, while Darranya Wright added a dozen points for the Lady Bulldogs.

East Mississippi's basketball teams will continue MACCC play on Monday (Jan. 23) by taking on Jones College. Head coach Billy Begley's EMCC Lions (12-2, 3-1 MACCC) will welcome the Bobcats to Scooba, while head coach Isaiah Butler's EMCC Lady Lions (4-7, 2-2 MACCC) will travel to Ellisville to meet the league-leading and nationally 12^th-ranked Jones women. Both games are slated for 6 p.m. tip-offs.