In posting nearly identical scores with different outcomes, the EMCC men’s basketball team posted a 64-55 road victory over Holmes, while the women dropped a 65-56 decision at Northwest Mississippi on Monday.
At Frank Branch Coliseum in Goodman, EMCC and Holmes battled through six ties and seven lead changes during the opening half before the teams settled for a 31-31 deadlock at the halftime break.
After four more lead changes and a 34-34 tie during the opening minutes of the second stanza, the Lions took control of the contest by going on a 15-0 run that turned a 40-37 deficit into a 52-40 advantage during an eight-minute span.
A jumper by Blake Butler started the rally, and Chris Newell’s 3-pointer put the visitors up by a dozen points with 6:35 remaining in the game.
The Bulldogs responded by quickly cutting the deficit in half at 52-46 with back-to-back treys by Darrius Clark and Caleb Campbell.
Nick Walker continued to establish his dominance inside by scoring EMCC’s next 7 points to put the visitors on top 59-49 late in the contest. The Hattiesburg product recorded his second straight double-double and seventh of his career by finishing with 23 points on 10-of-11 shooting from the field and 14 rebounds.
Holmes briefly made things interesting down the stretch by trimming the margin to 59-54 on Jordan Brister’s four-point play at the 1:32 mark. EMCC then scored five of the game’s last 6 points.
Butler and Newell scored 10 points apiece for EMCC (2-1). Clark and Campbell led Holmes with 14 and 13 points, respectively.
At Howard Coliseum in Senatobia, the EMCC women maintained the lead for the majority of the opening quarter. Jenessa Souza’s long 2-pointer to open the second-quarter scoring gave the visitors their biggest lead of the game at 16-10.
With EMCC leading 17-13 early in the quarter, the Rangers went on a 9-0 run to take a 22-17 lead with 3:46 remaining in the opening half. Northwest went on to maintain a 26-23 halftime advantage.
Following intermission, the Lady Lions scored the first five points of the second half to produce their final lead of the contest at 28-26. After I’Yana Ragin’s 3-pointer reclaimed the lead for the Rangers, the teams battled through four more ties before the home team secured a 40-36 halftime lead.
The margin stayed within four points through the first six minutes of the second half. EMCC pulled even at 47-47 by the 6:21 mark on consecutive baskets by Markiema Lancaster and Shakira Wilson, but Northwest answered with six straight points to take back the lead for the remaining four minutes of action.
DJ Williams led all scorers with 17 points for East Mississippi, while Kyunna Thomas registered her second double-double of the young season with 12 points and 13 rebounds.
Kolten Blankeney paced Northwest with a double-double of 16 points and 12 rebounds. Ragin added 14 points, and Maura Nunley scored 11 points for the winners.
Coach Sharon Thompson’s Lions (1-2) return home Thursday to play Itawamba. Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m. at Keyes T. Currie Coliseum on the Scooba campus.
Coach Billy Begley’s men’s team will travel to Indiana to participate in the McDonald’s Classic hosted by traditional powerhouse Vincennes University. EMCC will take on the host Trailblazers at 6 p.m. Friday before meeting third-ranked John A. Logan College at 4 p.m. Saturday.
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