MCC Basketball Survives Overtime Thriller

From School Reports

The Meridian Community College Lady Eagles had its hands full and more in the opening round of the MACJC State Tournament Tuesday afternoon at the Davis Event Center on the campus of Itawamba Community College. MCC needed an overtime session to eventually defeat Mississippi Delta Community College in first round of the State Tournament by a final score of 85-77.

Mississippi Delta held a nine-point edge over Meridian in the final three minutes of the contest, but MCC was able to battle back and force the game into overtime with the score tied at 72-72. The Lady Eagles thoroughly dominated the overtime period and lived to play in the next round of the tournament. Sophomore guard Kristin Sampson had another solid game for MCC by scoring 24 points, while freshman forward Miaya Crowder had a game-high 27 points in the first round victory over the Lady Trojans.

MCC improved its overall record to 19-5 with the overtime win, while Mississippi Delta closed out play in the tournament with a 13-11 mark. The Lady Eagles will now advance into the semifinals of the MACJC Tournament Wednesday afternoon against a very familiar opponent from the South Division. Southwest Mississippi entered the MACJC Tournament as the fourth seed from the South Division and the Lady Bears pulled off an upset of East Mississippi Community College which entered the tournament as the top seed from MACJC North Division.

The Lady Bears defeated EMCC by a final score of 66-61 to improve to 19-6 overall for the season. MCC and Southwest Mississippi split its two meetings during the regular season with the Lady Eagles winning its most recent game last Thursday night by a final score of 79-68.

The two squads will meet for a third time this season with the winner earning a trip to the MACJC State Championship game which will be played Thursday night at 6 p.m. The semi-final contest between MCC and Southwest is set for a 1 p.m. tip-off from the Davis Event Center on the campus of Itawamba Community College.