Lady Lions struggle offensively in road setback to 15th-ranked Pearl River
East Mississippi Community College’s basketball teams fell on the road to MACCC-leading Pearl River during Thursday’s conference hoops action played at Marvin R. White Coliseum. The EMCC women were downed 62-29 by PRCC to open the evening, while the Lions dropped a hard-fought 60-56 decision to the Wildcats in the nightcap.
POPLARVILLE – East Mississippi Community College's basketball teams fell on the road to MACCC-leading Pearl River squads during Thursday's conference hoops action played at Marvin R. White Coliseum. The EMCC women were downed 62-29 by 15th-ranked PRCC to open the evening, while the Lions dropped a hard-fought 60-56 decision to the Wildcats in the nightcap.
In the women's opener, Pearl River jumped out to a 19-4 lead following the first quarter. After scoring the first nine points of the second quarter, the Wildcats owned a comfortable 42-15 halftime advantage.
EMCC managed to score the first four points of the second stanza on baskets by Kennedi McCray and Dukiaha Jones to slightly cut into the margin. PRCC returned to its renowned lockdown defense by holding the visitors to only 10 more points the rest of the game on the way to the dominating 33-point triumph.
For the contest, the Lady Lions (8-13, 3-6 MACCC) were held to just 23.4 percent (11-47 FGs) shooting from the field in addition to being slowed by 29 turnovers.
Without anyone scoring in double figures on the night, EMCC was led by Jones and McCray with seven and six points, respectively.
In picking up their 20th win of the season, the home-standing Wildcats (20-2, 9-1 MACCC) were paced by Natasha Barnes' game-high 12 points.
In the nightcap, the Lions were attempting to put an end to another double-digit win streak, as they did two weeks prior (Jan. 30) in snapping Holmes' 17-game win string with a 63-53 victory over the Bulldogs in Goodman.
Midway through the opening half of play, Pearl River's 11-game win string looked to be challenged after DeAndre Lewis' fourth of five 3-pointers on the night capped a 17-4 EMCC run that gave the Lions a 23-14 lead with 9:31 remaining in the opening half.
The Wildcats answered by making a 15-4 rally to close out the half with a narrow 29-27 lead heading into intermission.
The second half played tight throughout the entire 20 minutes. The Wildcats gained the first momentum of the half by taking a 50-43 lead on Kedrick Osby's bucket at the 6:58 mark.
Sparked by consecutive made 3-pointers by DeAndre Lewis and Jonathan Baker, the Lions responded with an 8-1 run to knot the score at 51-51 on another Lewis jumper that beat the shot clock buzzer with 4:26 left. A minute later, Baker's trio of made free throws after getting fouled from the arc gave the visitors their first lead (54-52) of the second half.
Following two more subsequent deadlocks, Krystian Lewis converted on a dribble drive to give PRCC a 58-56 lead with around 40 seconds to go in regulation. After the Lions committed an untimely turnover on the game's next possession, they had two fouls to give before sending Zahir Gutierrez to the line. He nailed both charity tosses with 18 seconds remaining, and the Wildcats were able to run out the clock following an EMCC miss down the stretch.
DeAndre Lewis led all game scorers with 21 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the field, including 5-of-8 accuracy from beyond the arc. Keymarius Lewis followed with nine points on 3-of-4 treys for the Lions (9-15, 3-6 MACCC).
Improving to 21-3 overall and 10-0 in conference play, the Wildcats were led by Joah Chappelle's double-double effort of 19 points and 12 rebounds.
The East Mississippi basketball teams return home to play host to the Coahoma Tigers on Monday (Feb. 17). A 5:30 p.m. women's game will be followed by a 7:30 p.m. men's contest at Keyes. T. Currie Coliseum on the Scooba campus.