Lions have five-game win streak snapped with 54-52 overtime loss at Pearl River
The visiting EMCC Lions had their five-game winning streak snapped by dropping a hard-fought 54-52 overtime decision to the Pearl River Wildcats.
POPLARVILLE - The visiting EMCC Lions had their five-game winning streak snapped by dropping a hard-fought 54-52 overtime road decision to the Pearl River Wildcats during Thursday's MACCC basketball action played at Marvin R. White Coliseum.
The home-standing Wildcats held the advantage for most of the night after jumping out to an 11-2 lead five minutes into the game on Carlous Williams' three-pointer.
The Lions responded to PRCC's early flurry with a 12-1 spurt that resulted in their lone lead (14-12) of the game coming on a Blake Butler basket midway through the opening half. By the end of the half, the Wildcats had built their lead back up to eight points (28-20) following consecutive made treys by Williams and Cam Brown.
Following the halftime break, Pearl River maintained a nine-point advantage (41-32) at the 7:23 mark of the second half on the heels of back-to-back buckets by Ayub Nurhussien.
Sparked by Terrell Dixon's play off the bench, the Lions responded by scoring seven unanswered points to cut the deficit to 41-39 with five minutes remaining in regulation. Dixon helped keep EMCC within reach by scoring all 14 of his points during the second half on 6-of-8 shooting from the field.
Butler then put the Lions on his shoulders by scoring the last two baskets of regulation in acrobatic style over the final minute to knot the score at 48-48 with 20 seconds left. Both teams missed on three-point attempts down the stretch to send the contest into an extra session.
The low-scoring overtime period began with Nurhussien and Butler trading baskets within the first 30 seconds to create a fifth deadlock in the game. Following a nearly four-minute scoreless span by both teams, Dylan Brumfield hit on a driving layup and then converted on two free throws to give the Wildcats a 54-50 lead with 21 seconds left on the game clock. After Tremaine Dixon Jr.'s layup was goaltended by PRCC to cut the margin in half, Brumfield went back to the line with a chance to seal the win. He misfired on the front end of his one-and-one opportunity to give the Lions one final possession. After Jacob Reese's defensive rebound of Brumfield's miss with seven ticks left, Kevin Henry's desperation three-point attempt fell short at the final buzzer.
Though tightly guarded and being held to 7-of-19 shooting from the field on the evening, Butler still managed to score a game-high 18 points and pull down nine defensive rebounds for EMCC.
Pearl River was led by Williams and Brumfield with 15 and 14 points, respectively, while Brown followed with 10 points.
Looking to get back into the win column, head coach Billy Begley's EMCC Lions (15-3, 6-2 MACCC) will host the Coahoma Tigers on Monday (Feb. 6). Tip-off is slated for 6 p.m. at Keyes T. Currie Coliseum on the Scooba campus.