 The EMCC basketball teams will close out their regular-season home slate by playing host to Mississippi Delta on Thursday and Holmes on Monday. Tip-offs are set for 5:30 and 7:30 p.m. at Keyes T. Currie Coliseum on the Scooba campus.
Looking to avenge their lone divisional loss of the season – a 64-61 setback at Delta last month – head coach Mark White’s 19-3 Lions would also earn the honor of hosting the upcoming (Feb. 22-25) MACJC State Basketball Tournament by clinching the North Division title outright with their next victory. EMCC enters Thursday’s action with an 8-1 league record, while all of the other six North Division men’s teams have at least four league losses. Second-place Itawamba trails the Lions with a 6-4 divisional mark, followed by Holmes (5-4) and Northeast Mississippi (5-5).
Winners of 11 of their last 12 decisions, the Lions’ three-point road loss to the MDCC Trojans back on Jan. 18 marks their only setback dating back to the month of December. Additionally, the EMCC men own a +20.7 scoring margin over their last dozen opponents, including convincing divisional road wins a week ago over Coahoma (93-67) and Itawamba (83-61).
In the women’s MACJC standings, head coach Sharon Thompson’s 11-11 EMCC Lady Lions are currently in fourth place in the North Division with a 5-4 league record. Northwest Mississippi is presently atop the division with an 8-2 league mark, followed close behind by Delta (7-2) and Itawamba (7-3).
Having previously dropped a 59-49 decision at Mississippi Delta three weeks ago, the EMCC women are looking to snap a two-game losing skid. This past Saturday in Scooba, the Lady Lions fell, 73-63, in overtime to Wallace State-Hanceville after losing at Itawamba, 57-53, last Thursday in divisional action.
The East Mississippi basketball teams will conclude their regular-season home slate by welcoming Holmes to the Scooba campus for “Sophomore Night” on Monday, Feb. 15. With game times set for 5:30 and 7:30 p.m. at Currie Coliseum, Lady Lion fans are asked to wear pink to the EMCC-Holmes women’s game Monday in support of the WBCA Pink Zone initiative to assist in raising breast cancer awareness on the court, across campuses, in communities and beyond.
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 10 February 2010 )
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.jpg "Image") EMCC’s Preseason All-American CoCo Ware has been named the NJCAA Men’s Basketball Player of the Week for the 11th-ranked and 19-3 East Mississippi Lions.
A former standout at Starkville High School, Ware averaged 27.5 points, 9.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.0 steals last week in helping lead head coach Mark White’s 11th-ranked EMCC Lions to convincing MACJC North Division road wins over Coahoma (93-67) and defending divisional champion Itawamba (83-61). In addition, Ware’s shooting percentages for the week were 47 percent (17-of-36) from the field overall, 41 percent (7-of-17) from beyond the arc and 93 percent (14-of-15) from the line.
A 6-foot-1, 170-pound sophomore guard, Ware opened last week by scoring 25 of his game-high 30 points in the second half, while adding a career-high 15 rebounds, at Coahoma to register his fifth career double-double. Along with handing out three assists against the Tigers, he connected on 13-of-14 from the charity stripe. Later in the week in Fulton, Ware nailed 6-of-11 from three-point range during his 25-point road outing against Itawamba. He also added four rebounds, three steals and two assists at ICC.
On the season, the reigning NJCAA All-Region 23 selection ranks 31st nationally in scoring average at 19.8 points an outing, while rating 29th in steals with 2.7 swipes per contest. He also stands second among team leaders in rebounds (6.3 rpg) and assists (2.1 apg) for the year. Entering Thursday’s home contest against Mississippi Delta just 28 points shy of the coveted 1,000-point mark for his two-year EMCC career, Ware is averaging 23.3 points over his last dozen contests in pacing the 19-3 Lions to an 11-1 mark during that span.
The Ware-led EMCC Lions tip off a two-game homestand Thursday by playing host to Mississippi Delta on the Scooba campus. Men’s action is slated to commence at 7:30 p.m., following the 5:30 p.m. women’s contest at EMCC’s Keyes T. Currie Coliseum. A victory by the Lions over Delta would secure the school’s first-ever MACJC North Division men’s basketball championship and earn EMCC the honor of hosting the upcoming 2010 MACJC State Basketball Tournament, Feb. 22-25.
The East Mississippi basketball teams will conclude their regular-season home slate by welcoming Holmes to the Scooba campus for “Sophomore Night” on Monday, Feb. 15. With game times set for 5:30 and 7:30 p.m., Lady Lion fans are asked to wear pink to the EMCC-Holmes women’s game Monday in support of the WBCA Pink Zone initiative to assist in raising breast cancer awareness on the court, across campuses, in communities and beyond.
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 10 February 2010 )
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SAUCIER – The East Mississippi Community College men’s golf team opened the 2010 spring campaign with a fifth-place team finish in the year’s first Mississippi Association of Community & Junior College event played Monday and Tuesday on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
Head coach Dale Peay’s EMCC Lions carded a two-day score of 657 (319-338) to finish 10 strokes behind fourth-place Copiah-Lincoln (319-328--647). Two-time defending NJCAA Region 23 champion Mississippi Gulf Coast claimed the year’s initial MACJC event by two strokes (313-315--628) over runner-up Northwest Mississippi (305-325--630) and six strokes ahead of third-place Northeast Mississippi (306-328=634).
Tuesday’s final round was played at the 6,733-yard, par-72 Grand Bear Golf Club in Saucier, following Monday’s first-round action having been held at Biloxi’s Sunkist Country Club.
Competing as an individual in the spring’s initial event, EMCC sophomore Michael Lauseng, of Bossier City, La., placed fourth individually with an 8-over-par 152 (72-80) after standing in a first-place tie with Northwest’s Grant Goforth following Monday’s action. Sophomore Trey Adams, of Belmont, tied for 14th place (78-82=160) to lead East Mississippi’s scoring participants.
Freshman Ian McAdams, of Madison, was next for EMCC with a 20th-place tie (81-82=163), while fellow newcomer Jackson Bryant, of Natchez, followed two strokes back (79-86=165) in a tie for 26th place. Rounding out the Lions’ scoring were sophomores Will Black (81-88=169) and Garrett Alford (81-89=170) in 34th and 39th place, respectively.
The second MACJC golf event of the season will take place Feb. 20-21 at the Forest Country Club.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 09 February 2010 )
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.jpg "Image") Coach Kate Neely’s EMCC softball team opens the 2010 campaign by playing host to Copiah-Lincoln on Wednesday (Feb. 10) and then entertaining Pearl River on Tuesday (Feb. 16).
Head coach Kate Neely returns only two players – pitcher Courtney Nunn and outfielder Portia Randle – from last year’s 24-23 EMCC squad. Finishing third in the MACJC’s North Division standings with a 15-9 league record a year ago, the Lady Lions closed out the 2009 campaign winning 10 of their last 13 decisions on the year.
“We managed to achieve some goals last season,” Neely noted. “It was a good experience for us to taste that success and allow the players to gain some confidence.”
A sophomore right-hander from Jonesboro, La., Nunn went 10-12 in the circle a year ago for the Lady Lions, while ranking among the national leaders with 156 strikeouts. Randle, a Starkville High School product, saw considerable action in the EMCC outfield as a freshman.
The 2010 Lady Lions feature 14 first-year players on their preseason roster, including Cayla Coleman of Clarkdale, New Hope’s DeShuni Sanders, Mallory Pace of Northeast Lauderdale, and Choctaw Central’s Mercedes Cotton.
“Overall, we have a great freshman class,” Neely added. “We have brought in some needed speed and have added some kids who can play small ball.”
Having received votes in this year’s NJCAA Division II Women’s Softball preseason poll, the East Mississippi softball team will remain at home to play host to Pearl River on Tuesday, Feb. 16, before finishing out the remaining month of February on the road.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 09 February 2010 )
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.jpg "Image") In raising the total to 26 players from EMCC’s 2009 state championship football team to sign with four-year schools, Lion standouts (L-R) Randall Mackey (Mississippi), Lance Lewis (East Carolina), Derrick Steele (Central Arkansas), Quartney Cox (UAB) and Billy Autrey (UAB) all inked national letters-of-intent this past week on the Scooba campus.
A two-time NJCAA Region 23 Offensive MVP for head coach Buddy Stephens’ EMCC Lions, Mackey signed with the University of Mississippi on National Signing Day this past week. The 6-foot, 185-pound standout quarterback completed his two-year career in Scooba having thrown for 5,940 yards and 56 touchdowns in addition to rushing for 1,065 career yards and nine scores.
Lewis, a 6-foot-3, 280-pound defensive lineman from Birmingham’s Pleasant Grove High School, inked mid-semester with the reigning National Champion Alabama Crimson Tide. A two-year starter at East Mississippi, Lewis helped lead the resurgent Lions to a two-year composite record of 19-3 and school-first, back-to-back state playoff appearances.
Most recently, wide receiver Lance Lewis, of Concord, N.C., joined former EMCC teammate Diavalo Simpson at East Carolina University. Also this past week, offensive linemen Quartney Cox of West Point and Columbus’ Billy Autrey signed with the UAB Blazers, joining mid-semester signees Pat Shed of Starkville and T.J. Ballou, a former Northeast Lauderdale standout, in Birmingham.
Also signing this week off EMCC’s 11-1 and fourth-ranked 2009 squad was wide receiver Derrick Steele of Utica, who will reunite with former Lion defensive end Jermayne Lett at the University of Central Arkansas.
Other former EMCC football standouts having signed with four-year schools at the mid-semester break were: Claude Davis (South Florida); John Rice (Western Michigan); C.J. Jenkins and Luther Chambers (Southeastern Louisiana); Cedrick Blanks and Dujuan Brown (Tennessee-Martin); Avis Shelton and Kenny Roby (Alcorn State); Bill Franks (Delta State); Alvin Ellis and Gabe Poe (West Alabama); Anthony Hines and Maurice Owens (Arkansas Tech); Stephon Johnson (Kentucky Wesleyan); Jeremiah McDonald (Belhaven); and DeJay Watkins (Stillman College).
EMCC Football Players Moving onto Four-year Schools (2009-10)
· QB Randall Mackey (Mississippi)
· DL Brandon Lewis (Alabama)
· WR Lance Lewis & OL Diavalo "Boogie" Simpson (East Carolina)
· OL Billy Autrey, OL Quartney Cox, RB Pat Shed & DB T.J. Ballou (UAB)
· DL Claude Davis (South Florida)
· DL John Rice (Western Michigan)
· DL C.J. Jenkins & DL Luther Chambers (Southeastern Louisiana)
· WR/RB Cedrick Blanks & LB Dujuan Brown (Tennessee-Martin)
· OL Avis Shelton & LB Kenny Roby (Alcorn State)
· WR Bill Franks (Delta State)
· LB Alvin Ellis & LB Gabe Poe (West Alabama)
· DB Anthony Hines & LB Maurice Owens (Arkansas Tech)
· WR Derrick Steele & DL Jermayne Lett (Central Arkansas)
· WR Stephon Johnson (Kentucky Wesleyan)
· OL Jeremiah McDonald (Belhaven)
· OL DeJay Watkins (Stillman College)
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 06 February 2010 )
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