EMCC - Athletics: Sports, News, Players, and Coaches. Go Lions! - 12th-ranked EMCC Lions fall 76-66 in national tourney opener to Southeastern CC

HUTCHINSON, Kan. – East Mississippi Community College played from behind throughout Tuesday’s opening-round contest of the 2011 NJCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship on the way to dropping a 76-66 decision to Southeastern Community College (Iowa) at the Sports Arena.

Making their second straight appearance in the national tournament, head coach Mark White’s 12^th-ranked EMCC Lions fell behind 9-2 three minutes into the game and could never quite catch the unranked Blackhawks of Southeastern. With 10-point leads on four separate occasions late in the opening period, SCC maintained a 42-34 halftime advantage.

The Lions used an 8-2 run during the first three minutes following the halftime break to cut the deficit to 44-42. However, SCC’s Mason Leggett followed a jumper with another made basket after a steal to bump the margin back up to six points (48-42) with 14:49 remaining.

Repeat champions of Region 23, EMCC’s Lions continued to battle Southeastern throughout the second stanza and eventually pulled to within four points (63-59) by the 5:18 mark following consecutive buckets by freshman point guard D.J. Evans. Unfortunately, East Mississippi could not keep the momentum going in being slowed by three straight empty possessions, while the Blackhawks capitalized by scoring seven unanswered points to move ahead 70-59 with three minutes left in the contest. The Lions were not able to get any closer than eight points the rest of the way en route to falling to 25-4 on the year and into the consolation bracket of the five-day tournament.

Set to take on Western Wyoming Community College in Thursday’s 10 a.m. CT consolation contest, the EMCC Lions were led in their tournament opener by All-Region 23 sophomore guard Deonte Alexander with a game-high 21 points. Fellow all-region performer Jonathan King added 15 points before fouling out with 3:40 remaining in the game.

The 28-7 SCC Blackhawks, repeat representatives from District 11, had four players score in double figures, led by Jordan Aaron’s 20 points. All-region standouts Paris Gulley and Mansa Habeeb followed with 16 and 15 points, respectively, for the winners. Southeastern CC will meet Shelton State (Ala.) in Wednesday’s quarterfinals (8 p.m. CT) of the championship bracket.

All games during this week’s NJCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship can be viewed live on NJCAA TV (www.njcaa.org/tv) and PSB Live (www.psblive.com). The NJCAA will video stream the entire tournament through its broadcasting partner Panhandle Sports Broadcasting. Fans are also able to follow the five-day tournament by visiting www.njcaabbtrny.org to access live stats, game results and additional information about the tournament.