MERIDIAN — It’s frightening what kind of numbers Devonta Pollard could produce once he’s healthy and feels comfortable with his new East Mississippi Community College teammates.
Coming off a minor knee injury and off-the-court distractions, the 2011 McDonald’s All-American from Kemper County High School came off the bench to score a game-high 19 points and had seven rebounds, three steals, and two blocked shots in an 82-76 season-opening victory against Meridian C.C. on Thursday night at Graham Gymnasium.
“It’s pretty easy playing with this group of guys because before I joined the team I understood right away that I’d either played with or against everybody on the roster,” Pollard said. “Feeling comfortable with for my teammates or with my coaches wasn’t difficult. The adjustment is on me and that will come sooner than later.”
EMCC coach Mark White said he and his staff figured out the starting lineup hours before the game. He said the starting five will be a fluid situation based on practice effort. Pollard said he was told on the bus ride to he would come off the bench but “wouldn’t be sitting for very long.” Less than three minutes into the game, Pollard checked in to play with four teammates in a line-change style by White.
Pollard is months removed from being arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit kidnapping. Pollard is still defending the charge and, if convicted, he could receive a sentence of up to five years in prison. Pollard’s mother, Jesse Mae Pollard, is charged with kidnapping 6-year-old Jashayla Hopson. If she is convicted, she faces a maximum penalty of life in prison.
The charges against Pollard and his mother led to his dismissal from Alabama and to his move to EMCC, where he worked out in the summer.
“I have this deep motivation that I tell myself before every game basically because of my lifestyle and what has happened to me over the last year,” Pollard said. “It’s that motivation that leads me to make sure we finish games.”
It didn’t take long for the 6-foot-8 forward to get in a groove. In the first nine minutes, Pollard had eight of EMCC’s 14 points, including a spectacular pick-and-roll dunk off the pass from point guard Antonio Finley.
EMCC (1-0), ranked No. 11 in the preseason National Junior College Athletics Association Top 25 national poll, outscored MCC 17-4 in the final five minutes to secure the victory.
Meridian freshman point guard Trae Dunson had back-to-back baskets to give the Eagles a 72-65 advantage with a little more than five minutes left to play, but foul trouble and EMCC’s full-court defense allowed the Lions to rally.
“Our attitude is going to be to just find a way no matter the circumstances,” White said. “Told them yesterday nobody needs a leader when you’re kicking somebody’s butt. Everybody is a leader then, but a true character of a person comes out when times are tough.”
Dunson led Meridian (0-2) with 16 points. Sophomore forward Will Sheriff also had 16. In what would’ve been a critical home victory in front of a capacity crowd, where Meridian police were forced to turn hundreds of people away by halftime of the women’s game, the Eagles failed to put the game away in part due to a 19-for-34 effort from the free-throw line.
After the victory, White was furious at the nature of the game, which featured 58 fouls and 71 free throws thanks to the new points of emphasis on defense this season. The rule changes put an importance on “freedom of movement.” As a result, officials called several touch fouls on the perimeter and on the low block.
“It’s hard to play basketball when you literally are having to move out of the way of a offensive player with the ball,” White said. “Who wants to watch that? Ain’t nobody wants to watch that at any level.”
Both teams combined for 36 first-half fouls. Ninety seconds into the game, there were seven fouls and no points. By the 10-minute mark, both teams were already in the bonus situation.
“The NCAA has no clue what’s going on here and what they’ve done with these new rules,” White said. “The problem is they do no research and they just say, ‘Well, scoring has gone down each of the last 10 years’, but they don’t know it’s because fundamental skills aren’t taught anymore. It doesn’t mean the game needs more fouls called.”
EMCC will tip off its home schedule Nov. 14) when it plays host to East Central C.C.
n In the women’s game, MCC edged EMCC 57-52. Miaya Crowder scored 16 points, including 10 in the second half, and Kristen Sampson added 15 points for MCC (2-0).
After 10 first-half points, freshman Kyra Gulledge managed just one basket in the final 20 minutes for EMCC (2-1).
Sophomore guard Victoria Stewart went 6 of 8 from the free-throw line to secure the victory.
Follow Matt Stevens on Twitter @matthewcstevens.
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