MCC Splits with EMCC

Lady Lions avenge earlier loss to MCC
By Austin Bishop / special to The Star

SCOOBA — Sharon Thompson knew it was going to happen sooner or later, and Monday night it finally did.After struggling offensively for eight games, the East Mississippi Community College Lady Lions found their groove, knocking off previously-undefeated Meridian Community College 72-65.

"We finally started making our shots," Thompson said. "We have been getting the good shots all year. We just made them tonight. This is what I have been looking for all season."

She got her eyes full over the first 20 minutes as her Lady Lions — now 3-6 on the season — lead by as many as 16 points twice on the way to a 45-31 halftime lead.

"That first half is the best we have played all year," Thompson said. "They made a run on us in the second half, but we didn't quit. We played a full 40 minutes. I'm hoping this game will finally get us over the mountain top."

In the men's game, visiting MCC led by as many as 19 points and held on in an 82-69 win.

The women's game was all EMCC in the first half.

"We just couldn't get it going," said MCC head coach Hilary Allen. "We couldn't make our 3s and missed some free throws. You have to give East Mississippi credit. They played well and just took it to us."

Allen said his team had obvious trouble handling EMCC's inside game.

"It was just a bad mismatch for us on the inside," he said. "The inside game is one of their strengths and it's one of our weaknesses and they took advantage of it."

The Lady Lions were getting the scoring done from both the inside and the outside, especially in the first half.

EMCC led 12-4, 18-6 and 27-11 on the way to the 14-point halftime lead. The visiting Lady Ealges actually made a brief run in the first half, cutting it to 39-31 on a bucket by NaDosha Strickland before the Lady Lions scored the last six points of the half to go up 45-31.

East Mississippi led 54-35 on a basket by Tasia Johnson with 18:10 left in the game, but then Meridian began chipping away. EMCC stretched it back to 60-46 before Meridian went on a 14-4 run to cut it to 64-60 on a 3-pointer by Holly Dial with 4:32 left.

But the Lady Lions held off a Meridian rally and used a big 3-pointer by Sheena Robinson to stretch the lead back out on the way to the win.

Danielle Baldwin finished the night with 18 points for the Lady Lions, including four 3-pointers. Robinson added 14 points, while Shaurice Miller scored 12 and Sade' Coates added 11.Strickland went 12-of-14 from the line on the way to a game-high 34 points for MCC, while Anesia McBride added 10. The MCC Lady Eagles play host to Georgia Perimeter, the No. 23-ranked team in the county, at the Graham Gymnasium on Saturday at 2 p.m.

Meridian men 82
East Miss. 69

MCC dominated the game early, jumping to a 20-11 lead 7 minutes into the game and holding a 42-23 advantage at the half.

But EMCC would not go away and managed to cut the lead down to three points at 68-65 on a pair of free throws by Cornelius Miles with 4:38 left in the game.

The 3-2 Eagles responded by scoring 14 of the game's last 18 points to take the 82-69 win.

"This was a tough, tough win," Meridian coach George Brooks said. "It is tough to win on the road and East Mississippi always plays us well. They did a good job and refused to give up."

Meridian made some key free throws down the stretch, including four by Keith James to ice the win.Sophomore Dexter LeFlore had an excellent game for the Eagles, scoring 30 points to lead the winners.

"He just does a good job for us and it's not just on the offensive end," Brooks said. "He works hard on defense, he rebounds. He just does all the right things. He's a complete player."

Chris Leggett added 15 points for MCC, while Kolby Tillman scored eight.

East Mississippi had a balanced scoring attack with Miles scoring 20, Daniel Huggins picking up 13, Alex Ford scoring 12 and Jon Estes adding 11.

The EMCC men and women visit Southwest Mississippi Thursday before hosting Jones County Junior College at Keyes T. Currie Coliseum on Monday.

The Meridian men visit Faulkner on Thursday, before hosting Shelton State, ranked No. 5 in the country — at the Graham Gymnasium on the MCC campus Tuesday.