Lions remain unbeaten at home with 67-58 victory over Coahoma

The East Mississippi Community College men's basketball team remained unbeaten at home this season with a 67-58 victory over Coahoma, while the EMCC Lady Lions' struggles on the road continued by dropping a 73-48 decision to the CCC Lady Tigers during Monday's MACCC hoops action.

In men's conference play contested at EMCC's Keyes T. Currie Coliseum in Scooba, the Lions jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead and held the advantage for the opening 11 minutes of play.

Following a pair of ties, consecutive three-pointers by Ben Galmore and Kei Johnson gave the Tigers a lead they would maintain for the remainder of the first half. Coahoma's biggest advantage during that span was an eight-point lead (28-20), though EMCC managed to cut the margin in half (33-29) by the intermission.

Coming out of the halftime break, six straight points by point guard Tremaine Dixon Jr. on a driving lay-up and four made free throws put the Lions back on top five minutes into the second stanza. After Coahoma briefly reclaimed the lead (39-38) at the 12:51 mark, EMCC went on a 17-4 run to pull out to a 55-43 advantage.

CCC's Johnson answered by scoring the game's next seven points to cut the margin to five points (55-50) with four minutes remaining in the contest. Johnson finished the contest with a game-high 27 points for the Tigers.

With the visitors down by six points (60-54) and still within reach after Galmore's made trey, Dixon Jr. answered with a triple of his own with a minute left to play to essentially seal EMCC's seventh home win of the season in as many tries.

Blake Butler paced EMCC's trio of double-digit scorers with 22 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the field and 5-of-7 from the line to register his 15^th career 20-point effort. Kevin Henry (6-9 FGs & 3-4 FTs) and Dixon Jr. followed with 16 and 13 points, respectively, for the winners.

In women's action played at the Pinnacle in Clarksdale, the home-standing Lady Tigers built on a 14-13 lead after the opening 10 minutes of play by taking an 11-point advantage (30-19) with two minutes remaining in the first half. EMCC managed to cut into Coahoma's lead heading to the break on Gabby Collier's three-pointer followed by Nakeria Scales' score off an inbounds play under the basket.

The Lady Lions stayed close until the Lady Tigers put on a three-point display by hitting four treys during a two-minute stretch that extended Coahoma's lead from 37-29 to 51-30 late in the third quarter. After outscoring the visitors, 23-8, during the period, CCC maintained its insurmountable lead throughout the final quarter en route to posting the decisive 25-point home victory.

As EMCC struggled from the field with 18-of-64 shooting (28%) for the game, the Lady Lions were led by Sukkima Suell with 13 points and seven rebounds. Gabby Collier added 11 points.

The East Mississippi basketball teams will continue conference competition by taking on East Central during Thursday's (Feb. 9) MACCC action. Head coach Isaiah Butler's EMCC Lady Lions (5-11, 3-6 MACCC) will welcome the Lady Warriors to the Scooba campus, while head coach Billy Begley's EMCC Lions (16-3, 7-2 MACCC) will travel to Decatur. Both contests are slated for 6 p.m. tip-offs.