EMCC - Athletics: Sports, News, Players, and Coaches. Go Lions! - EMCC Lions prevail 75-65 at Meridian; Lady Lions fall 59-54 to MCC in Thursday road hoops action

MERIDIAN – D.J. Evans’ season-high 29 points sparked East Mississippi Community College to a 75-65 road victory over rival Meridian Community College Thursday night at Graham Gymnasium. In the women’s contest, the MCC Lady Eagles held on for a 59-54 win over the visiting EMCC Lady Lions.

In the nightcap, the visitors battled from behind most of the opening half before scoring 11 unanswered points to take their first lead (23-22) of the game with four minutes remaining in the half. After trailing 22-17 with 6:37 left until the break, the Lions outscored Meridian 15-5 the rest of the half to take a 32-27 halftime lead.

The Lions maintained the momentum by scoring the first 10 points of the second stanza to move ahead by 15 points (42-27) following a driving dunk by sophomore post player Millaun Brown. The home-standing Eagles rallied from that point and evened the score at 54-54 by the 7:25 mark. The score was tied again at 61-all just under the four-minute mark before the combined efforts of Brown and Evans helped enable the visitors to pull away over the final couple of minutes.

Scoring all 13 of his points after intermission on 5-of-5 shooting from the field, Brown scored on consecutive offensive put-backs off Evans’ missed drives to the basket to put EMCC on top 68-62 with less than two minutes remaining. With Meridian forced to foul down the stretch, Evans converted on 7-of-8 charity tosses over the final 1:59 to give him 18 second-half points.

Improving to 9-2 on the year with their sixth consecutive victory, head coach Mark White’s EMCC Lions also received a season-most 16 points, including 14 in the opening half, from sophomore Tradarrius McPhearson. Both of EMCC’s losses this season – Northwest Florida State and Shelton State – have come on the road to teams that are currently ranked No. 1 and No. 18, respectively, in the NJCAA Top 20 poll.

Falling to 4-10 on the year, Meridian was led by Kevin Williams’ 21 points.

In women’s action Thursday on the Meridian CC campus, the visiting Lady Lions played from behind virtually the entire contest. After trailing 28-19 at the halftime break, the EMCC women cut into the deficit during the second stanza but couldn’t get through the five-point barrier for much of the half.

The contest ultimately came down to the final couple of minutes when EMCC sophomore guard Chadisty Hickman nearly single-handedly put the visitors in position to contend for a possible come-from-behind win. The reigning all-region performer out of Kemper County High School pulled the Lady Lions to within a basket on two different occasions down the stretch. With all of her team-high 13 points coming in the second half, Hickman’s driving bank shot with 14.6 ticks left on the game clock trimmed the MCC lead to 56-54.

Following an EMCC timeout, sophomore Norianna Haynes, hobbled by an apparent left shin injury, was fouled on the ensuing Meridian possession and courageously sank a pair of free throws to again make it a two-possession contest and essentially seal the game for the Lady Eagles.

Head coach Sharon Thompson’s EMCC Lady Lions dropped to 4-8 with the setback. With Hickman as the lone EMCC scorer in double figures, freshman guard Rachel Adams added a spark with nine points off the bench.

Raising their mark to 7-8 on the campaign, the Meridian women were led by Gelese Lampton’s game-high 17 points, followed by Haynes’ dozen tallies.

Both defending MACJC North Division champions, the East Mississippi Community College basketball teams resume division play next Tuesday (Jan. 17) by playing host to Northeast Mississippi Community College on the Scooba campus. A 5:30 p.m. women’s game will be followed by a 7:30 p.m. men’s contest at EMCC’s Keyes T. Currie Coliseum.