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HUTCHINSON, Kan. – For the second straight day against a national Top 10 foe, the 15th-ranked Lions of East Mississippi Community College couldn’t overcome an early second-half spurt by the opposition in falling to No. 7 Indian Hills Community College (Ottumwa, Iowa), 79-70, in Wednesday’s consolation action of the 2012 NJCAA Division I Men’s Basketball National Championship being held at the Hutchinson Sports Arena in Kansas. As they did in Tuesday’s 71-63 opening-round setback to top-ranked and unbeaten South Plains College (Texas), the Lions also let a halftime lead slip away against a nationally ranked opponent. Against Indian Hills, EMCC led virtually the entire first half and was up by as many as eight points before settling for a 33-29 halftime edge. Despite being slowed by 15 first-half turnovers, the Lions gained the early advantage by limiting the Warriors to just 25-percent (7-of-28 FGs) shooting through the opening 20 minutes of play. After hitting only 1-of-11 three-point attempts in the first half, Indian Hills capitalized on a sudden burst of perimeter shooting along with aggressive full-court pressure to completely turn around the pace of the game. A tip-in basket by EMCC post player Millaun Brown made it a 37-37 contest at the 16:46 mark, but that’s when the Warriors turned up the heat defensively and got red-hot from outside. Three straight 3-pointers from Gary Ricks Jr., combined with an unrelenting full-court press, ignited IHCC to a momentum-changing 18-2 run. Within a four-minute span, the Lions’ 35-31 lead quickly turned into a 49-37 deficit by the 15:15 mark. The Lions tried to stem the tide with five straight points on a 3-pointer by D.J. Evans and a highlight jam by Colin Borchert on a feed from Tradarrius McPhearson. However, Brown, EMCC’s best inside presence, fouled out shortly thereafter with 12:22 remaining in the contest that featured 64 personal fouls and 84 free-throw attempts between the two teams. With the Warriors maintaining a double-figure advantage on the heels of their second-half explosion, East Mississippi did manage to cut the deficit to single digits (62-54) again by the 7:17 mark. However, the Lions’ comeback attempt was quickly thwarted when Jameel McKay had a put-back dunk and Ricks followed with his fifth 3-pointer of the contest to put Indian Hills comfortably back in front by 13 points (67-54) with 6:27 remaining in the game. Indian Hills’ cushion reached 16 points late in the contest, but three consecutive baskets by EMCC’s McPhearson over the closing minute kept the final margin to single digits. McPhearson, a product of Raymond High School, finished with 16 points, six rebounds, four steals and two assists. Borchert, an All-Region 23 selection from Phoenix, Ariz., recorded a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Curtis Hall, of West Point, added a dozen points for EMCC. Improving to 31-4 on the season, Indian Hills put four scorers in double figures, led by McKay and D.J. Bennett with 16 points apiece. McKay also pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds, including eight offensive boards. Ricks finished with 15 points on 5-of-7 three-point accuracy, while Roderick Bobbitt added 10 points, six assists and five steals for the winners. Coach Mark White’s EMCC Lions closed out the campaign with a 23-6 overall record, following marks of 25-5 last season and 27-7 two years ago. East Mississippi’s three-year combined record 75-18 has featured three consecutive NJCAA Tournament appearances as back-to-back-to-back NJCAA Region 23 champions along with three straight MACJC North Division regular-season titles. In addition, four of EMCC’s six setbacks on the season came to teams currently ranked in the NJCAA’s Top 10. Along with falling to seventh-ranked Indian Hills and No. 1 South Plains at this week’s NJCAA Tournament, the Lions dropped November road decisions to Northwest Florida State College and Shelton State Community College, respectively ranked second and sixth in the NJCAA’s final regular-season Top 20 poll. |
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MOORHEAD – The East Mississippi Community College Lady Lions picked up their first pair of division softball wins of the season Tuesday afternoon with 7-0 and 11-0 shutout victories at Mississippi Delta Community College.
Freshman pitcher Shelby Sheppard earned both complete-game, shutout wins for EMCC, allowing just seven singles to the Lady Trojans over the two games. The former Kemper Academy standout struck out a total of nine batters, including seven in game one. In allowing but two walks on the afternoon, Sheppard faced only 27 batters in the opener and just 21 in the run-ruled, five-inning nightcap.
In the opener, the Lady Lions scattered their 11 hits – all singles – throughout the game, scoring a pair of runs in the first, one in the third, three more in the sixth and a final tally in the seventh inning.
Individually, sophomore Stormy Lewis, of Quitman, was 4-for-4 at the plate in game one, while Allison Hauer, from Franklin County, went 3-for-4. Clarkdale product Logan Bozeman supplied the only runs EMCC would need in the opener with a two-run, two-out single in the first inning.
With Sheppard going the distance again in the circle for EMCC, the Lady Lions utilized a trio of multi-run innings to claim the nightcap and complete their second doubleheader sweep of the season. After a three-run second, EMCC plated five more runs in the fourth frame, highlighted by Amber Spann’s bases-clearing triple. The Lady Lions closed out the run-ruled contest with three additional runs in the fifth inning.
Spann, another former Clarkdale standout for the Lady Lions, led the way offensively in the second contest by reaching base all four trips to the plate. From her leadoff position in the lineup, she went 3-for-3 with a walk, drove in four runs and scored a pair of runs. Paige Sheppard, of Southeast Lauderdale, and New Hope’s Haley Tutor each added two singles to help lead the Lady Lions’ 10-hit attack in game two.
Coach Kate Neely’s 8-17 EMCC Lady Lions look to also improve upon their 2-6 MACJC North Division mark by traveling to Clarksdale to meet Coahoma Community College in a Saturday road doubleheader.
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 21 March 2012 )
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SCOOBA – The East Mississippi Community College baseball team claimed its first doubleheader sweep of the season by downing visiting Southwest Mississippi Community College, 9-5 and 4-0, in non-division action late Tuesday afternoon at EMCC’s Gerald Poole Field.
In the opener, the home-standing Lions banged out 14 hits, including three for extra bases, to rally from an early 2-0 deficit. The Bears went on top, 2-0, in their half of the third inning on a two-run home run by Johnny McKenzie off EMCC starter Corbin Johnson. An inning later, the Lions tied things up, 2-2, when Ismael Reyes singled home two runs after Holden Watts, Zane Migues and Jason Yarbor had led off the inning by loading up the bases with successive singles.
After Southwest went back ahead, 4-2, in the top of the fifth by scoring a pair of runs off Smokey Ethridge, the Lions would ultimately make him the game one winner on the mound by scoring four runs in the bottom half of the inning. The initial damage came on Migues’ team-leading third home run of the year, scoring courtesy runner Cody Berryhill. After a second Southwest error in the inning allowed Yarbor to reach base, EMCC moved ahead, 6-4, on subsequent back-to-back, two-out triples by Aaron Brady and Leroy Wilson.
The Bears managed an unearned run off reliever Tyler Jones in the sixth, but the Lions added three more insurance runs in the bottom of the frame to account for the 9-5 final. Migues capped his 3-for-4 outing at the plate by singling in Tyler Bonaventure, who had walked to open the inning and advanced to second on a passed ball. In addition to his three runs batted in, Migues later scored his third run of the game when he and Yarbor came around to score on Reyes’ second two-run single of the contest.
Reyes, from Northeast Lauderdale, finished the opener 2-for-4 at the plate with four RBIs. Watts and Yarbor also had two hits apiece for the winners in game one.
The nightcap featured a combined two-hit shutout from EMCC hurlers Blake Thomas, Dillon Hawkins and Blake Roberts. In facing just 27 Southwest batters in the seven-inning contest, the trio collectively struck out six and only allowed singles to Connor Goodspeed and McKenzie in the second and third innings, respectively.
The only offense the Lions would need in game two came in the second inning on Leroy Wilson’s leadoff home run - his third of the season to tie Migues for EMCC’s team lead. Wilson, a former Columbus High School product, knocked in two more runs the next inning with a single up the middle, plating Yarbor and Bonaventure after they had reached via a walk and error, respectively, and advanced on a passed ball. Brady’s two-out RBI single then completed the scoring in the nightcap.
Coach Chris Rose’s 10-12 EMCC Lions, 1-3 in MACJC North Division play after splitting at Holmes and being swept at home by Northwest Mississippi last week, are set to close out their current week-long home stand by entertaining division rival Itawamba Community College on Saturday. Doubleheader action between the Lions and Indians is slated to begin at 1 p.m. on the Scooba campus.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 20 March 2012 )
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HUTCHINSON, Kan. – The 15th-ranked Lions of East Mississippi Community College couldn’t take advantage of a solid first-half defensive effort in dropping a 71-63 decision to top-ranked and unbeaten South Plains College (Texas) Tuesday in Game 1 of the 2012 NJCAA Division I Men’s Basketball National Championship being played at the Hutchinson Sports Arena in Kansas.
Coach Mark White’s 23-5 EMCC Lions get bumped to the consolation bracket of the double-elimination tournament and will take on seventh-ranked Indian Hills Community College, out of Ottumwa, Iowa, in Game 9 Wednesday afternoon at 3 p.m. Indian Hills, 30-4 on the year and representing District 11, fell to third-ranked Monroe College (N.Y.), 81-69, in Tuesday’s opening-round action.
Dictating the pace of the game for the most part in the opening half against undefeated South Plains, EMCC overcame an early 16-11 deficit by making a 13-2 run to pull ahead, 24-18, on a Millaun Brown inside basket with 8:22 left until the break. When the Texans got to within a single point (27-26) by the 5:57 mark, the Lions outscored SPC, 9-3, the rest of the half to take their largest lead (36-29) to the locker room.
Despite owning the advantage at the intermission after his EMCC squad had held high-scoring South Plains to just 29-percent (12-of-41 FGs) first-half shooting, White still felt somewhat uneasy at the break about his team’s ability to consistently maintain their offense for the entire 40 minutes.
“Coming back from the half, I told my assistant (Billy Begley) that I was worried whether we could get enough going consistently on offense to hold them off and win the game.”
This year’s NJCAA District 15 and Region 23 Coach of the Year proved to be the prophet, as the Lions were outscored, 18-4, at the outset of the second stanza to fall behind by seven points (47-40) six minutes into the half. However, the Region 23 champions and three-time NJCAA Tournament participants regrouped to make a 9-2 run to knot the score at 49-49 on a long 3-pointer by D.J. Evans midway through the half.
Following another tie at 51-all, EMCC’s Tradarrius McPhearson nailed a triple to put the Lions on top, 54-52, with 8:41 remaining in the contest. After SPC added a pair of free throws to create another deadlock, reserve forward Lakin Ford nailed a key 3-pointer for EMCC to seemingly give the Lions some new-found momentum with 7:28 left in the game.
Instead, the Lions would find themselves stuck on 57 points for the next five minutes when their attack mode on offense ran dry at the charity stripe. Within a single minute, Colin Borchert and Deon Bedford – both 78-percent free-throw shooters on the season – missed a combined six straight charity tosses. At the same time, South Plains’ Stanton Kidd basically took over the contest offensively by tallying nine of his game-high 20 points during the game-changing, three-minute stretch. Kidd’s final bucket during the critical run – a 3-pointer with 1:49 left – all but sealed the contest for the 33-0 Texans.
“The missed free throws definitely affected us mentally on the other (defensive) end because it takes your spirit away from you,” White added.
The Lions missed 11-of-13 free throws during the second half, including 10 straight errant freebies at one point. For the game, EMCC labored with just 5-of-20 (25%) shooting from the so-called charity stripe.
Offensively, Evans and Borchert led EMCC with 13 points apiece, while Ford added 11 points off the bench.
On the defensive end, the Lions held South Plains to its worst shooting performance of the season on just 25-of-69 (36.2%) accuracy from the field, including limiting season-leading scorer Marshall Henderson to only 10 points on just 4-of-19 shooting and 1-of-9 from beyond the arc. With the Texans entering the contest averaging 87.4 points per game and shooting better than 50 percent from the field as a team on the season, they were held to less than 72 points in a game for only the sixth time this season. The game also marked just the seventh time on the year that SPC has been involved in a single-digit outcome in 33 contests.
Along with Kidd’s game-high 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting, South Plains put three other scorers in double figures. Yanick Moreira registered a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds, while Henderson and Tymell Murphy added 10 points each for the winners.
“South Plains is No. 1 in the country for a reason,” White continued. “They’re from a very tough league that has had teams in the national championship game five straight years. They’re a great team and they’re battle-tested.
“As for us, we had a couple of bad minutes there in the beginning of the second half, but we competed, played hard and we didn’t back down. We proved in the first half that we could guard them and compete with them.”
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 20 March 2012 )
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.jpg "Image") The 15th-ranked Lions of East Mississippi Community College, three-time champions of the NJCAA Region 23 Tournament, will tip off their third straight appearance in the NJCAA Division I Men’s Basketball National Championship by taking on top-ranked and undefeated South Plains College of Texas Tuesday morning at 10 a.m. The five-day, double-elimination tournament will be played at the Hutchinson Sports Arena in Hutchinson, Kan.
Three-time champions of the NJCAA Region 23 Tournament and representing District 15, head coach Mark White’s 23-4 EMCC Lions will tip off the 65th NJCAA Division I Men’s Basketball National Championship by taking on top-ranked and unbeaten South Plains College (Texas) Tuesday at 10 a.m. in Game 1 at the Hutchinson Sports Arena. The 32-0 SPC Texans, guided by 12th-year head coach Steve Green and representing District 5, claimed the 2008 NJCAA Championship. The seeding of the tournament’s blind draw, as determined at the NJCAA Annual Meeting last March, also has two other 30-win teams in the same mini-bracket with EMCC. Game 2 at noon on Tuesday will pit a pair of 30-3 teams in Monroe College (N.Y.), of District 3, against Indian Hills Community College-Ottumwa (Iowa), from District 11. The Mustangs of Monroe College is the other men’s basketball program that has made the NJCAA Tournament each of the last three years. Monroe and Indian Hills completed the regular season ranked third and seventh, respectively, in the NJCAA Top 20 national poll. In the five-day, double-elimination tournament, the winners of Games 1 and 2 will face other in the championship bracket Wednesday at 6 p.m. in Game 10. The losers of those two first-round contests will fall to the consolation bracket and battle to stay alive in Game 9 Wednesday at 3 p.m. With the College of Southern Idaho (30-3), representing District 1, returning to defend its 2011 national title, the other district champions comprising this year’s 16-team tournament field include: (D2) Eastern Oklahoma State College (30-3); (D3) Monroe College, N.Y. (30-3); (D4) Three Rivers CC, Mo. (21-12); (D5) South Plains College, Texas (32-0); (D6) Seward County CC, Kan. (28-6); (D7) Columbia State CC, Tenn. (21-6); (D8) Northwest Florida State College (29-1); (D9) Otero JC, Colo. (29-4); (D10) Spartanburg Methodist College, S.C. (28-5); (D11) Indian Hills CC-Ottumwa, Iowa (30-3); (D12) Wallace State CC-Hanceville, Ala. (19-15); (D13) Gordon College, Ga. (26-7); (D14) Navarro College, Texas (25-9); (D15) East Mississippi CC (23-4); and (D16) Wabash Valley College, Ill. (25-8). All tournament games will air live on NJCAA TV, powered by iHigh.com, at www.njcaatv.ihigh.com. Fans will be able to follow the action with updated results and statistics along with additional tournament information at www.njcaabbtrny.org. With composite records of 75-16 (.824) overall and 33-3 (.917) in MACJC North Division regular-season play, the EMCC Lions have claimed the NJCAA Region 23 Tournament championship and MACJC North Division regular-season title each of the last three years en route to participating in the NJCAA Men’s Basketball National Championship. East Mississippi Community College had not made a previous appearance in the NJCAA Tournament prior to 2010. In their school-first national tournament showing in 2010, the EMCC Lions claimed an 86-65 opening-round victory over Brunswick (N.C.) Community College in their tourney debut before falling to Navarro (Texas) College, 72-58, and Northwest Florida State College, 77-75. A year ago in Kansas, EMCC dropped decisions to Southeastern (Iowa) Community College, 76-66, and Western Wyoming Community College, 74-56. Based in Levelland, Texas, South Plains College competes in the Western Junior College Athletic Conference (WJCAC). The undefeated SPC Texans are making their first NJCAA Tournament appearance since 2008 when they claimed the national title. Represented by six different states as well as having players from Canada, France and Angola, top-ranked South Plains College averages 87.4 points per game and owns a +19.6 scoring average over their opponents on the year. Sophomore guard Marshall Henderson paces three double-digit SPC scorers with an average of 19.4 points per contest, including 115-of-269 (43%) accuracy from beyond the three-point arc for the season. Freshman 6-foot-10 forward Yanick Moreira is second on the club in scoring (12.2 ppg) and leads the Texans in rebounding (7.4 rpg) and blocked shots (2.1 bpg). Averaging 77.3 points per game on the year, the EMCC Lions enter the NJCAA Tournament with a +16.4 scoring average while holding their 2011-12 opponents to an average of 60.9 points per contest. Most recently, EMCC limited both Southern-Shreveport (27.7%) and Pearl River (29.8%) to less than 30-percent field-goal shooting in double-digit wins in the finals (63-49) and semifinals (65-52), respectively, of the NJCAA Region 23 Tournament in Clinton. Three of the Lions’ four losses on the season – 66-63 to Pearl River in the MACJC state semifinals, 68-67 at Coahoma in their regular-season finale to end a 16-game win streak, and 67-61 at Shelton State back in November – were by a collective total of only 10 points. The other setback, 88-67, came against current second-ranked Northwest Florida State on the road back on Nov. 5. |
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