Published: November 14, 2008 12:53 am      

Area junior college basketball roundup (Nov. 13)

EMCC splits with Pearl River

East Mississippi Community College's Coco Ware connected on 7-of-12 of his 3-pointers Thursday night.

An eighth would have forced overtime, but his shot from the right wing with no time on the clock was off the mark as Pearl River Community College (2-1) escaped with an 82-79 victory over the homestanding Lions.

Ware led all scorers with 29 points and all but four of EMCC's 3-pointers.

The Lions (1-3) led by as many as nine points in the first half, but Pearl River closed the half on a 17-5 run to take a 32-31 halftime advantage.

Scooba Tech was never able to re-gain the lead, but kept it close throughout.

With 16 seconds remaining in the game, Jonathan Harris cleaned up Cataurius Taylor's miss to cut the deficit to two points.

Randy Perkins extended the lead for the Wildcats with two free throws, before Ware drilled a 3 to make it 80-79 with 3 seconds on the clock.

The Lions again fouled Perkins, who made both shots.

Following the second free throw, the inbounds pass went to Darian Donald at midcourt. Donald dished to Ware, who missed the shot from downtown.

Donald scored 18 for the Lions, while Harris added 16.

Donta Smith's double-double (23 points, 13 rebounds) led the Wildcats.

— Chris Brennaman



East Mississippi women 71
Pearl River 43

The Lady Lions of East Mississippi withstood a 21-2 run over a 4-minute stretch by Pearl River Community College and cruised to a 28-point victory.

At the beginning of the spurt in the second half, EMCC held a 43-point lead with 7:43 left in the game.

The Lady Lions (4-0) led 42-15 at halftime.

Martika Hull, a former Southeast Lauderdale standout, had a game-high 12 points for EMCC, while Sanitra Bush and Angelique Burtts each added a dime.

Both East Mississippi teams will host East Central Community College on Monday.

— Chris Brennaman



East Central women 81
Holmes 74

The Lady Warriors turned a four-point halftime advantage into a seven-point win Thursday night.

ECCC was paced by Rashima Jenkins, who pumped in 27 points, while former Choctaw Central star Mystee Dale tacked on 17.

— Chris Brennaman



Holmes men 71
East Central 67

The East Central Warriors trailed by 10 at the intermission, and ran out of time as their comeback fell four points short.

The Warriors received 11 points from Rod Lofton and 10 from Kenny Thomas in the loss.

Both ECCC squads are now 3-2 on the season and will play at East Mississippi on Monday.

— Chris Brennaman



Shelton State 82
Meridian women 58

For the second straight game, the Meridian Community College Lady Eagles could only sit back and watch as their ranked opponent drained 16 attempts from 3-point range.

MCC battled No. 14 Shelton State to a halftime tie, before being outscored by 24 points in the second half.

Former Meridian High star Tiara Parker scored 14 points to lead the Lady Eagles, while her teammate Tiara Logan of Philadelphia had 13.

MCC (3-2) hosts LSU-Eunice Monday.

— Chris Brennaman



Shelton State men 92
Meridian 68

There was a mirror image of the women's game as the Meridian Community College men took the court in Tuscaloosa.

The Eagles and host Buccaneers played to a 47-47 tie in the first half and Shelton State was 24 points better after the teams came out of the locker rooms.

The leading scorer in the men's game (Patrick McCurtis) also had 14, while another player (Gary Cunningham) chipped in 13.

The Eagles (2-1) return to Graham Gymnasium on Saturday, when Wallace-Selma comes to town.

— Chris Brennaman