| East Mississippi Sweeps Holmes on "Sophomore Night" in Scooba |
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SCOOBA – The East Mississippi basketball teams closed out their regular-season home slate in impressive fashion, sweeping visiting Holmes on “Sophomore Night” Monday at Keyes T. Currie Coliseum on the Scooba campus. Following the Lady Lions’ 74-62 victory in the opener, the 11th-ranked Lions continued their winning ways with a resounding 89-58 triumph over the Bulldogs in the nightcap.
Having solidified a spot in next week’s EMCC-hosted MACJC State Basketball Tournament, head coach Sharon Thompson’s Lady Lions, the defending NJCAA Region 23 champions, improved to 13-11 overall and 7-4 in North Division play with Monday’s 12-point home win over Holmes. The EMCC women posted an 8-4 regular-season home record, including a 5-1 home mark in divisional play. After leading by as many as 13 points in the opening half against Holmes, the Lady Lions surrendered their lead midway through the second stanza when Brittany Henry’s put-back basket put the visitors briefly on top by a 48-47 tally. The EMCC women responded with nine unanswered points to move ahead 56-48 with eight minutes remaining. However, the Lady Bulldogs would battle back to cut the deficit to a single digit (56-55) by the 4:58 mark following consecutive buckets by Tiffany Williams. The EMCC tandem of sophomore Martika Hull and freshman Natalie Tate would answer the challenge by combining to score the next 13 points for the home team in helping the Lady Lions secure a winning regular-season record. A former standout at Southeast Lauderdale and a reigning MACJC All-North State selection for the Lady Lions, Hull paced the EMCC women with a game-high 23 points, including 14 in the second half on 5-of-7 shooting from the field after halftime. Tate and fellow Columbus High School product Eryn Gary followed with 13 points apiece for the winners. In Monday’s nightcap, head coach Mark White’s Lions jumped out to a quick 8-0 lead and built the advantage to 20 points (34-14) with four minutes remaining until intermission. After maintaining an insurmountable 41-19 halftime cushion, EMCC managed to double up the Bulldogs, 61-30, by the 12:47 mark of the second stanza. The lead ballooned to as many as 36 points in the final minute of play, as the North Division champions improved to 21-3 overall and 10-1 atop the divisional standings. Winners of 13 of their 14 decisions, including a current seven-game winning streak, EMCC was again led by NJCAA Preseason All-American CoCo Ware with 32 points, including 20 in the first half when he went over the 1,000-point mark for his two-year EMCC career. Now with 1,021 career points to his credit, the Starkville native notched his fifth career 30-point effort. Also in double figures for the Lions were Meridian’s Donovan Walker and Jonathan King with 12 and 10 points, respectively. East Mississippi basketball teams close out their regular-season slate Thursday night at Northeast Mississippi. With the 2009-10 Lions securing the school’s first MACJC North Division men’s basketball championship, EMCC earns the honor of hosting next week’s MACJC State Basketball Tournament, Feb. 22-25, at Currie Coliseum on the Scooba campus. With men’s competition beginning Monday followed by opening-round women’s play on Tuesday, game times for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday are set for noon, 2 p.m., 5:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Following Wednesday’s semifinal-round action, the state tournament championship contests will tip off at 5:30 p.m. (women’s) and 7:30 p.m. (men’s) on Thursday. Ticket prices for next week’s state basketball tournament on the Scooba campus will be $5 per day, with children five years of age and younger admitted free of charge. A $15 all-tournament pass will also be available to fans. |
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| Last Updated ( Tuesday, 16 February 2010 ) |
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