EMCC - Athletics: Sports, News, Players, and Coaches. Go Lions! - East Mississippi opens MACJC North Division hoops play with home sweep of Holmes

SCOOBA – The East Mississippi Community College basketball teams successfully opened MACJC North Division play by sweeping Holmes Thursday night at Keyes T. Currie Coliseum on the Scooba campus. The Lions improved to 8-1 on the year with a 79-69 victory in the nightcap, while the EMCC women tipped off the evening with a 58-49 win over the Lady Bulldogs.

Winners of six of their last seven games, head coach Sharon Thompson’s Lady Lions outscored Holmes 17-8 over the final six minutes of the contest to improve to 6-3 on the campaign. EMCC responded to a 10-2 Holmes run that tied the contest at 41-41 by the 5:49 mark with seven unanswered points of its own late in the second half. The home team sealed the victory by hitting 7-of-8 free throws over the final minute of play.

Freshman guard Chadisty Hickman of Kemper County continued her consistent scoring streak with a game-high 21 points for East Mississippi. Now averaging right at 20 points per game for the season, Hickman has now been the Lady Lions’ leading scorer in all but one contest this year and has tallied 16 points or better during each of her first nine collegiate outings. Sophomore RoTasha Windom, another KCHS product, registered her fourth double-double of the year with 13 points and 11 rebounds.

Falling to 5-4 on the season, the Holmes women were led by Kierra Gilmore’s 13 points.

The reigning MACJC North Division and NJCAA Region 23 champions, head coach Mark White’s 23^rd-ranked Lions claimed their eighth win in nine decisions on the year. Leading 41-28 at the break, EMCC stretched the margin to as many as 19 points (65-46) with eight minutes remaining. The visitors went on a 10-1 run to cut the deficit to 10 points (66-56) by the 4:52 mark, but the Lions kept their composure en route to posting the double-digit victory.

EMCC freshman point guard D.J. Evans poured in a season-high 33 points on 10-of-14 shooting from the field, including 2-of-4 from beyond the arc, and 11-of-15 accuracy from the free-throw line. The former All-Metro Jackson selection out of Brandon High School also tallied five rebounds, four steals and three assists. Sophomore guard Joe McCoy, a former Raymond High School product, added 13 points and six boards for the winners.

Now 2-9 overall on the year, the Holmes Bulldogs received 29 points from Curtis Bailey.

The East Mississippi basketball teams hit the road to Senatobia to take on division foe Northwest Mississippi in a Monday doubleheader tipping off at 5 p.m.