Lions drop 59-53 home decision to Holmes in non-conference action

SCOOBA – East Mississippi Community College closed out its pre-Christmas basketball slate with Monday's home hoops doubleheader against Holmes. The EMCC women claimed a 69-63 overtime victory over the Lady Bulldogs to begin the evening, while the Lions fell to Holmes, 59-53, in non-conference men's nightcap action played at EMCC's Keyes T. Currie Coliseum.

In the men's nightcap, the Lions led Holmes throughout the first half with the exception of an early 2-2 tie. Jermaurhiyun Anderson's 14 first-half points helped enable EMCC to mount a 10-point advantage (28-18) late in the half.  

After the Lions settled for a 29-23 halftime lead, Holmes scored the first seven points of the second stanza to grab its first lead (30-29) of the game. Two minutes later, Trey Smith hit his third three-pointer of the half's opening five minutes to put the Bulldogs in front for good.

Keymarius Lewis' pair of treys midway through the half knotted the score at 42-42, but the Lions were not able to regain the advantage. The Bulldogs increased their lead to as many as eight points late in the game, but seven missed free throws by Holmes plus seven quick points by EMCC's Anderson down the stretch kept the margin at single digits.

Scoring nearly half of EMCC's 53 total points in the contest, Anderson matched his season high with a game-best 25 points. No other Lion player scored more than six points in the setback.

Holmes' Smith totaled 23 points on 8-of-10 shooting from the field along with adding eight rebounds and four assists. Christian Parks recorded a double-double with 13 points (5-7 FGs) and 10 rebounds for the Bulldogs.

The 6-5 EMCC men's squad is scheduled to draw the curtains on the 2024 calendar year by taking on host Pensacola State College in Florida on consecutive days (Dec. 30-31). Both East Mississippi basketball teams will return to doubleheader activity by playing host to the Itawamba Indians in non-conference action on Tuesday, Jan. 7, on the Scooba campus.

In the women's opener, the Lady Lions increased their two-point edge (17-15) at the quarter break to 33-25 heading into halftime. EMCC lengthened the margin to 16 points (51-35) on Dukiaha Jones' put-back basket late in the third quarter before Holmes scored the last six points of the quarter to pull to within 10 points heading into the final 10 minutes of regulation.

Leah Wilcher's three-point play to open the fourth-quarter scoring for EMCC was answered by a 16-0 Holmes run in which the Lady Bulldogs grabbed a 57-54 advantage on a Kiara Howard basket with 2:42 remaining in regulation. After Micaiah Satcher's clutch made three-pointer slowed Holmes' rally and knotted the score at 57-57, neither team managed to score again over the final two minutes of regulation. Included within that closing two-minute span were two missed free throw opportunities by EMCC's Kennedi McCray with 5.7 seconds left and an errant missed potential game-winning trey attempt by Holmes' Hannah Finley at the buzzer.

The teams traded leads during the early portion of the five-minute extra session before the Lady Lions grabbed the advantage for good on Jones' basket with 1:37 remaining. McCray's driving layup following her first of two key steals over the final 39 seconds put EMCC ahead by three points (66-63). Je'Niecia Hill's 1-of-2 effort from the free throw line and Satcher's put-back bucket provided the game's final margin.

Jones topped all game scorers with 19 points and had six steals for the 4-6 Lady Lions. Satcher and McCray added 13 and 12 points, respectively, for the winners.

Amanda Walker posted a double-double with a dozen points and 11 rebounds for Holmes. Finley followed with 10 points off the bench for the visitors.