SCOOBA — The East Mississippi Community College basketball teams opened their home schedules Thursday by sweeping East Central C.C. at Keyes T. Currie Coliseum.
The EMCC women began the evening with an 86-74 victory, while the No. 11 men’s basketball team earned an 87-69 triumph.
In the women’s contest, the visiting Lady Warriors erased a 12-point halftime deficit (41-29) to tie th game at 65 on a 3-pointer by Tynika Bender with six minutes remaining. The margin stayed within four points for the next three minutes until EMCC scored seven unanswered points to seal the deal.
Chicago native Dana Gettis scored a game-high 20 points to lead EMCC (3-1). Charmane Tims, of Clarkdale High School, had 16 points.
Falling to 3-2 on the season, the Lady Warriors received 19 points from Ty-neisa Mickens.
In the men’s game, EMCC outscored East Central 52-35 in the second half to cruise to their second win in as many outings. Leading just 49-43 with 13 minutes, 13 seconds remaining, EMCC broke open the game by scoring 11 unanswered points in a minute. Devonta Pollard’s three-point play at the 12:46 mark was followed by back-to-back 3-pointers from Mack Foster and Avery Woodson to ignite the game-deciding run.
Jacolby Mobley scored 20 of his game-high 26 points in the second half to lead the Lions. Pollard, the former McDonald’s All-American from Kemper County High added 13 points and a team-best nine rebounds.
The EMCC women will return to action Monday when they play host to preseason No. 9 Shelton State in a 5:30 p.m. game at Currie Coliseum.
n Central Arkansas 98, Central Baptist 36: At Conway, Ark., Former Starkville Academy standout Maggie Proffitt connected on 8 of 14 3-pointers, the second-most in school history, en route to a game-high 30 points in a victory Thursday night at the Farris Center.
The Sugar Bears (3-0) had five players in double figures and two more with nine.
Proffitt, who had 14 points in the Sugar Bears’ win at Ole Miss on Sunday, followed up with one of the top shooting performance in school history by knocking down all three of her 3-point attempts in the first half and following with five more in the second half as she accumulated the highest scoring total for a UCA freshman since Megan Herbert’s 31 on March 3, 2010, at Stephen F. Austin.
“Maggie’s a pure shooter,” UCA coach Sandra Rushing said. “She’s one of the best I’ve ever coached. Her defense has really improved, and she’s not only a shooter — she can put it on the floor and create. She’s not one-dimensional. I’m excited for her – she had a great night. I messed up her flow early – I pulled her out, and I think messed her up a little, but she came back out in the second half and got it back together.”
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