EMCC basketball teams earn home sweep of Holmes, winning 59-47 in women’s play and 77-52 in men’s action

SCOOBA – The East Mississippi Community College basketball teams tipped off the second half of the MACJC North Division regular-season slate by sweeping visiting Holmes Community College Thursday night at Keyes T. Currie Coliseum.  The EMCC Lady Lions notched their second straight win with a 59-47 victory, while the Lions snapped their two-game losing skid with a convincing 77-52 triumph over the Bulldogs.

The Lady Lions trailed for most of the opening 13 minutes of play before coming back to take a slim 27-25 halftime lead.  They stretched the margin to six points on consecutive put-back baskets by Dajah McCarty and Ashley Jackson coming out of the break.  Capped by back-to-back inside scores from Savannah Kimmons, EMCC went on to make a 13-4 run during the first nine minutes of the second half to open up a 40-29 advantage by the 11:03 mark.

After the visitors cut the deficit to four points (40-36) by scoring the next seven points, EMCC freshman guard Takera Mitchell nailed a timely 3-pointer just before the shot clock expired.  Fellow freshman Wilma Davis followed with a fast-break basket to bump the lead back up to nine points (45-36) with 7:41 remaining in the contest.

A 3-pointer by Holmes' Denesha Dillard made it a six-point game at the 6:12 mark, but Davis promptly converted an offensive rebound into points and followed with a pair of charity tosses to put head coach Sharon Thompson's Lady Lions back in control en route to the 12-point victory.  The EMCC women improved to 5-13 overall and 3-4 within the division with their second straight win.

Davis, from West Point High School, scored in double figures for the fifth consecutive contest with a game-high 17 points.  Mitchell and Kimmons followed with 12 and 10 points, respectively.  On the boards, McCarty pulled down nine rebounds, including six on the offensive end, to go along with her eight points.  Kimmons added eight rebounds and three blocks for the winners.

Falling to 7-11 overall and 2-5 in the division, the Lady Bulldogs were led by Dillard's 12 points.

The home-standing Lions never trailed in the nightcap, mounting a 10-point lead (33-23) by the intermission.  After the Bulldogs scored the first basket of the closing period, EMCC tallied eight unanswered points to go up by 16 points (41-25) four minutes into the second stanza.

The margin increased to 20 points three minutes later when Jarekious Bradley's 3-pointer made it a 49-29 contest with 13:20 still remaining.  The spread never dipped below 17 points the rest of the way, as the Lions completed their fourth consecutive season series sweep of Holmes in an eight-game win streak against the Bulldogs that spans back to the 2009-10 campaign.

Sophomore center Earnest Hunter was the star of the game for the Lions, registering his first collegiate double-double by posting career highs of 22 points and 13 rebounds.  The former Noxubee County High School product connected on all seven of his shot attempts from the field and hit 8-of-11 from the charity stripe.

Freshman guard Mack Foster followed with 11 points, while Bradley and Micah Walker added nine points apiece for head coach Mark White's EMCC Lions, who improved to 12-6 overall and 5-2 within the division.

After not playing the early part of next week, the East Mississippi basketball teams will travel to Moorhead to take on Mississippi Delta Community College on Thursday, Feb. 7.  EMCC then returns home to play host to Northeast Mississippi Community College on Monday, Feb. 11.