Lions top Shelton State 81-67 in men's hoops home opener

SCOOBA – The East Mississippi Community College men's basketball team claimed an 81-67 victory over Shelton State during Monday's home-opening doubleheader hoops action played at Keyes T. Currie Coliseum on the Scooba campus. The EMCC women dropped a 78-50 decision to the sixth-ranked Lady Bucs in the night's opening game.

In men's action, the home-standing Lions led for virtually the entire contest. After EMCC went ahead by 10 points (25-15) on an Israel Griffin basket at the 8:29 mark, the halftime lead grew to 17 points (44-27) following a pair of three-pointers by Keymarius Lewis and a Brian Kitenge trey that rolled in at the buzzer.

The Lions maintained their double-digit advantage throughout the second stanza. An 8-0 Shelton State run, capped by a Kuron Coleman triple, cut the deficit to 10 points (49-39) early in the half. EMCC answered with an 11-3 rally that was started by Jermaurhiyun Anderson's three-point play and completed with Josh Brown's three-point make midway through the half.

The Buccaneers managed to get the margin back down to 10 points (72-62) with three minutes remaining on consecutive baskets by Troy Dunn. To the delight of EMCC's spirited home crowd, the Lions closed out the 14-point win with back-to-back dunks from DeAndre Lewis and Anderson.

DeAndre Lewis and Anderson paced a quartet of double-figure EMCC scorers with 18 and 17 points, respectively. Yamari Allette and Keymarius Lewis followed with 11 and 10 points, respectively, for the 4-1 Lions.

The Shelton State men were led by Nazir Griffin's 18 points. Coleman finished with 13 points for the visitors.

In the women's contest, the Lady Bucs held the advantage throughout the entire 40 minutes of play with the exception of three early ties. After owning a 24-15 lead at the quarter break, Shelton State held EMCC to one made field goal in the second quarter to grab a 36-17 halftime advantage.

The visitors opened the second stanza with a 10-2 spurt and finished the third quarter on a 15-3 run over the final four minutes to take their largest lead (62-29) of the game into the final period. The Lady Lions outscored Shelton State, 21-16, in the fourth quarter.

In dropping their second straight decision to a top-10 opponent, the 2-2 Lady Lions were led by sophomores Shalea Boddie, Je'Niecia Hill and Micaiah Satcher with eight points apiece.

Shelton State's Makala Hobdy topped all game scorers with 16 points. Alana Obianozie recorded a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Lady Bucs.

East Mississippi's basketball teams will continue their week-long home stand by playing host to the Lawson State Cougars on Thursday (Nov. 14). A 5:30 p.m. women's game will be followed by a 7:30 p.m. men's contest at Currie Coliseum on the Scooba campus.