Lady Lions top Coahoma in first game action in two weeks

SCOOBA — East Mississippi Community College's basketball teams swept Coahoma Community College during Thursday's MACCC North Division action.  Following a two-week pause from competition due to COVID-19 protocols, the EMCC women rebounded from a sluggish start to post a 65-45 home win over the Lady Tigers.  In men's action, the Lions claimed a hard-earned 75-72 road triumph over CCC in Clarksdale.

In their first game action since a season-opening 78-53 road win over Northwest Mississippi on Jan. 21, the Lady Lions perhaps showed some signs of their layoff by trailing Coahoma, 15-7, after the opening quarter and then being down at the half by a 25-22 margin.

The reigning conference women's champions, who received their 2019-20 championship rings prior to their home opener, came out with increased energy following intermission.  After scoring the first six points of the second half, the EMCC women outscored the Lady Tigers, 27-9, in the third quarter to take a 49-34 advantage.  The Lady Lions maintained their comfortable double-digit lead throughout the final period en route to cruising to the 20-point victory after outscoring Coahoma, 43-20, during the second half.

Coach Sharon Thompson's 2-0 EMCC Lady Lions were led by freshman guard Shakira Wilson's 14 points on 4-of-7 three-point shooting.  All-conference forward Ja'Mia Hollings registered her 16^th career double-double with 12 points and 14 rebounds.  Siarra Jackson added nine points for the winners, who extended their conference division winning streak to 14 consecutive games dating back to last year's championship season and improved their overall home win string to 17 straight contests spanning back to 2018-19.

Jurnee McLaurin led all scorers with a game-high 21 points for Coahoma.  Ashanti Backus followed with 10 points for the visitors.

The EMCC women are slated to travel to Goodman on Monday (Feb. 8) to take on the Lady Bulldogs of Holmes Community College.  Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. at Frank Branch Coliseum on the Holmes campus.

In the men's contest played at the Pinnacle in Clarksdale, the Lions grabbed an early 18-10 lead capped by a Nick Walker 3-pointer.  Coahoma answered with a 12-2 run to move ahead, 22-20, and maintained the lead for the remaining eight minutes of the half. 

After the Tigers scored the opening basket of the second half to increase their lead to 36-31, the visitors scored seven unanswered points to take a 38-36 lead on Hunter McCutcheon's 3-pointer.

Following a fifth tie of the half, the EMCC men later went on a 10-0 run to open up a 56-46 advantage around the midway point of the half.  That's when Coahoma got hot from the perimeter by hitting four 3-pointers – three by Shadrick Bouldin – during a 19-5 spurt that put the home team in front by four points (65-61).

The Lions countered with seven straight points capped by a Makeem Roberts 3-pointer and a Blake Butler drive to the rim that put the visitors on top for good.

Following an exchange of turnovers and a pair of missed EMCC free throws down the stretch, Coahoma's Ben Galmore drilled a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to a single point (73-72) with 4.5 seconds remaining in the contest.

All-conference forward Jakorie Smith came through for EMCC by capping off his 10^th career double-double by hitting a pair of clutch free throws with 3.5 ticks left to essentially seal the road victory for the Lions.  The Tigers were then tasked to go the entire length of the court on the game's final possession, but EMCC's Roberts picked off a pass around midcourt as the buzzer sounded before any final shot was attempted.

With Smith leading the way with 18 points and 10 rebounds for EMCC, freshman guard Blake Butler followed with a season-high 17 points along with five rebounds, seven assists, two steals and a block.

Bouncing back from Monday's 70-68 home setback to Northeast Mississippi, Coach Billy Begley's EMCC Lions improved to 3-1 on the season with their first four contests having been decided by just nine total points.  They will step out of division play to entertain the visiting Bears of Southwest Mississippi Community College in a 2 p.m. Saturday afternoon home contest at EMCC's Keyes T. Currie Coliseum on the Scooba campus.