| Top-seeded EMCC teams to begin MACJC State Basketball Tournament as North Division champions |
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SCOOBA – With MACJC North Division regular-season titles in hand, the East Mississippi Community College basketball teams will both take No. 1 seedings into this week’s Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges State Basketball Tournament to be held on the Copiah-Lincoln campus in Wesson.
Winners of seven of their last eight regular-season games, head coach Sharon Thompson’s 14-8 and top-seeded Lady Lions (9-3 in division play) will meet No. 4 South seed Mississippi Gulf Coast (15-8, 6-6) at 2:45 p.m. in Monday’s opening-round women’s action. The EMCC women have now earned MACJC North Division titles during two of the last three seasons. Thompson’s 2008-09 Lady Lion squad went 25-7 overall and 11-1 in division play en route to claiming the NJCAA Region 23 Tournament title and advancing to the NJCAA National Tournament in Kansas. Monday’s tournament action will tip off at 1 p.m. with the reigning state champion Jones County Lady Bobcats, the South’s No. 2 seed, meeting No. 3 seed Holmes of the North Division. Monday’s second session at Co-Lin’s Mullen Gymnasium will feature the eighth-ranked and host Lady Wolves of Copiah-Lincoln versus No. 4 North seed Northeast Mississippi at 6 p.m., followed by second-seeded Itawamba of the North Division against No. 3 South seed Pearl River at 7:45 p.m. Ranked 13th nationally in the most recent NJCAA poll with a 20-3 overall record, EMCC head coach Mark White’s two-time defending MACJC North Division champions will take on No. 4 South seed East Central (13-10, 7-5) in Tuesday’s first-round men’s action at 6 p.m. The Lions swept the Warriors during the 2010-11 regular season, winning 90-57 in Decatur and 81-77 in Scooba within a two-week span back in November. Now 47-10 over the past two seasons combined, the Lions were 27-7 last year en route to capturing the NJCAA Region 23 Tournament championship and earning the program’s first-ever appearance in the NJCAA National Tournament in Kansas. The first session of Tuesday’s opening-round men’s action will pit second-seeded Mississippi Delta of the North Division against No. 3 South seed Jones County at 1 p.m., followed by regular-season South Division champion Mississippi Gulf Coast versus No. 4 North seed Itawamba at 2:45 p.m. The 7:45 p.m. nightcap will feature the reigning state champion and second-seeded Pearl River Wildcats taking on No. 3 North seed Northeast Mississippi. Men’s and women’s semifinal-round tournament action will take place Wednesday at Copiah-Lincoln, with Thursday’s championship games set for 6 p.m. (women’s) and 7:45 p.m. (men’s) tip-off times. |
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| Last Updated ( Sunday, 20 February 2011 ) |
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