| EMCC hosts Northwest Thursday; Lions ranked 22nd nationally |
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SCOOBA – On the heels of Monday’s home divisional sweep over Northeast Mississippi, the East Mississippi Community College basketball teams stay at home to play host to Northwest Mississippi Thursday night on the Scooba campus. A 5:30 p.m. women’s contest will be followed by a 7:30 men’s game at EMCC’s Keyes T. Currie Coliseum.
Winners of eight of their last nine decisions, head coach Mark White’s 16-3 Lions enter Thursday’s action ranked tied for 22nd nationally in this week’s NJCAA Division I men’s basketball poll. With 15 voting points this week following Monday’s 71-64 home win over Northeast, EMCC is presently tied with Moberly Area Community College and Seward County CC for the nation’s No. 22 position in the current rankings. Ranked 28th in the nation statistically in team scoring defense while allowing just 65.6 points per game on the year, the Lions have stepped up that pace of late by limiting the opposition to an average of only 58.3 points during their last nine contests. With an 8-1 mark over those last nine games, the EMCC men have not allowed more than 64 points to an opponent over that stretch, including holding Meridian to just 45 points on the road earlier this month. More recently, the Lions gave up but 51 points in a Jan. 11 home win over Itawamba and only 54 points in last week’s 33-point victory at Holmes. The Lions are presently atop the MACJC North Division standings with a 5-1 league record, with Itawamba and Mississippi Delta both one game behind at 4-2 in divisional play. Holmes and Northeast follow at 3-3 in North Division action. In the women’s standings, head coach Sharon Thompson’s 10-8 EMCC Lady Lions are tied with Mississippi Delta for third place in the MACJC’s North Division with identical 4-2 league marks. Entering Thursday’s action, Itawamba and Northwest are tied at the top of the standings at 5-1 apiece. Coming off Monday’s 55-38 home triumph over Northeast and last week’s 62-47 win at Holmes, the EMCC women are also finding hardwood success through stellar defensive play this season. In allowing an average of only 59.4 points per game on the year, the Lady Lions presently stand 33rd nationally in team scoring defense. The East Mississippi basketball teams hit the road next week for a pair of divisional doubleheaders. After playing at Coahoma on Monday, the EMCC squads travel to Itawamba for a Thursday twinbill in Fulton.
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| Last Updated ( Wednesday, 27 January 2010 ) |
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