EMCC Lions stretch season-opening streak to six straight with 84-60 home win over Wallace Selma
East Mississippi Community College’s season-opening men’s basketball winning streak reached six straight games with Thursday’s 84-60 home victory over Wallace Community College Selma played at EMCC’s Keyes T. Currie Coliseum.
SCOOBA – East Mississippi Community College's season-opening men's basketball winning streak reached six straight games with Thursday's 84-60 home victory over Wallace Community College Selma played at EMCC's Keyes T. Currie Coliseum.
After the two teams battled to three early deadlocks during the game's first five minutes, the visiting Patriots opened up a 24-16 advantage midway through the opening half. Consecutive three-pointers by DeAndre Lewis and Diovion Famakinde ignited a dominant first-half stretch by the Lions that turned an eight-point WCCS lead into a 13-point EMCC advantage (40-27). A made trey by Selma's Rashad Simpson – his third of the half – were the only points EMCC allowed during a 24-3 EMCC run that consisted of 11-0 and 13-0 spurts by the Lions.
The Patriots trimmed their 41-33 halftime deficit to just three points by scoring the first five points of the second half. The visitors later pulled to within a basket (49-47) on Terrence Davis' three-pointer at the 13:25 mark before EMCC essentially put the game out of reach by scoring 20 unanswered points to move ahead, 69-47.
Famakinde paced a quartet of EMCC double-figure scorers with 21 points along with adding six rebounds, four steals and three assists. Lewis approached a double-double with 12 points and nine rebounds, while Jordan Alexander and Josh Brown followed with 11 and 10 points, respectively, for the Lions.
Wallace Selma was led by Davis' 18 points.
Head coach Billy Begley's 6-0 EMCC Lions will travel to Tuscaloosa to meet Shelton State Community College on Monday (Nov. 17) before trekking to Poplar Bluff, Mo., to play three in-season tournament games on successive days during the Bank of Grandin Thanksgiving Classic. After taking on host Three Rivers College on Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 27) at 7 p.m., East Mississippi will meet Illinois-based Wabash Valley College on Friday (5 p.m.) and Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College on Saturday (2 p.m.).