EMCC Lions sweep pair of games in Northeast-hosted Bonner Arnold Classic hoops tourney

BOONEVILLE – In their first in-state action of the men's basketball season, the Lions of East Mississippi Community College swept a pair of games this past weekend at the Northeast Mississippi-hosted Bonner Arnold Classic. After an 89-83 win over Reid State on Friday, EMCC came back the following day with a commanding 106-49 victory versus Wallace Selma in Booneville.

In Friday's opening-day action, EMCC broke a 25-25 tie by scoring nine unanswered points and turning up the defense during a run that began midway through the first half.

East Mississippi extended its 38-31 halftime lead to as many as 16 points (66-50) midway through the second stanza before Reid State battled back. The Lions from Alabama went on a 12-0 spurt that cut their deficit to three points on three different occasions. Vopchy Prophete's basket with five minutes left made it a 71-68 contest, but that's as close as Reid State would get. A free throw by Israel Griffin and consecutive three-pointers by Jermaurhiyun Anderson and Yamari Allette increased EMCC's lead to double figures (78-68).

Two more treys by Prophete down the stretch cut the lead in half (86-81), but a Jonathan Baker free throw and an Anderson slam sealed the six-point victory for the Scooba Lions.

Anderson scored a team-high 25 points and handed out five assists for the winners. Allette, a transfer from Old Dominion University, approached a triple-double with 17 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists. Starkville's Baker followed with 14 points off the EMCC bench, while DeAndre Lewis, out of reigning MHSAA Class 5A state champion Canton High School, added seven points and 10 rebounds.

Reid State's Prophete paced all game scorers with 31 points.

East Mississippi returned to Bonner Arnold Coliseum on Saturday and was involved in an early three-point shootout against Wallace Selma. Eight of the game's first nine baskets were from beyond the arc, including four consecutive makes by EMCC's Anderson.

After the Patriots pulled to within a basket (17-15) eight minutes into the contest, the Lions ran off 16 unanswered points to move ahead, 33-15, during a four-minute stretch. EMCC finished off the opening half hitting three more treys, including Allette's buzzer-beater, to grab a sizable 52-20 halftime advantage.

The three-point shots kept falling for the Lions following the break as they drilled 11 more treys in the second half, including streaks of five straight makes by Brian Kitenge and four consecutive makes by Keymarius Lewis off the bench.

EMCC's insurmountable lead grew to 40 points (63-23) early in the half on a DeAndre Lewis bucket following a steal. The Lions' advantage ballooned to 50 points (76-26) with Kitenge's fourth triple of the half at the 13:10 mark. The margin ultimately swelled to 60 points (101-41) on Keymarius Lewis' fourth trey of the half with three minutes remaining.

For the game as a team against Wallace Selma, the Lions shot 59 percent (41-70 FGs) overall from the field, including a sizzling 53 percent (19-36 treys) from behind the three-point line.

With four players scoring 14 or more points and two others with nine points, EMCC was led by Kitenge's 19 points on perfect 7-of-7 shooting from the field, including his five treys in as many attempts during the second half. The Hagerstown (MD) Community College transfer also pulled down a team-high eight rebounds in the contest. Keymarius Lewis followed with 17 points on 5-of-11 three-point shooting, while Anderson and DeAndre Lewis added 16 and 14 points, respectively, for the Lions.

Coach Billy Begley's 3-1 EMCC Lions are set to make their home season debut this week by playing host to Alabama-based Shelton State, from Tuscaloosa, and Lawson State, out of Birmingham, on Monday (Nov. 11) and Thursday (Nov. 14), respectively. Men's tip-offs are slated for 7:30 p.m. on both nights and will follow women's action (5:30 p.m.) at Keyes T. Currie Coliseum on the Scooba campus.