East Mississippi earns key 73-60 home win in hoops rematch with Shelton State

SCOOBA – On the heels of a successful Thanksgiving tournament showing in Missouri, the Lions of East Mississippi Community College earned a key 73-60 home win over Shelton State to avenge an earlier loss to the Bucs. In the women's contest, the 13^th-ranked Lady Bucs claimed a 92-42 runaway road victory over EMCC's Lady Lions during Monday's doubleheader hoops action played at Keyes T. Currie Coliseum.

Coming off a pair of double-digit, bounce-back wins over Wabash Valley and Northeastern Oklahoma A&M at last week's Three Rivers College-hosted Bank of Grandin Thanksgiving Classic in Poplar Bluff, Mo., the home-standing Lions led Shelton State from start to finish during the rematch from two weeks ago after jumping out to a 16-2 lead midway through the opening half. Highlighting his 18-point first half of action, Jordan Alexander's four-point play at the 4:58 mark gave EMCC a 32-11 lead on the way to owning a 44-24 halftime advantage over the visiting Bucs.

Following intermission, the Lions scored the first five points of the second stanza to mount a 25-point (49-24) cushion. After struggling through a cold-shooting opening half, Shelton State began to find the range in the second stanza by cutting the margin to 11 points (53-42) by the 11:15 mark.

Though the Bucs further cut the deficit to eight points (68-60) on Anderson Wilkin's baseline drive down the stretch, the Lions' initial sizable lead resulted in a 13-point victory that avenged their 88-69 road setback to Shelton State two weeks ago (Nov. 17) in Tuscaloosa.

Having subsequently earned MACCC Men's Basketball Player of the Week honors after averaging 27.3 points during EMCC's 2-1 tournament mark in Missouri this past week, Alexander once again led the Lions with 22 points in Monday's home win over Shelton State. Diovion Famakinde followed with 17 points, while DeAndre Lewis registered his second career double-double with 15 points and a career-best-tying 12 rebounds against the Bucs.

Shelton State was led by Wilkin's 16 points, followed by King Larkin with 12 points.

Head coach Billy Begley's 9-2 EMCC Lions will close out their pre-Christmas men's hoops slate by taking on Wallace State-Hanceville on the road Friday (Dec. 5). They will then participate in their fourth in-season tournament by venturing back to the Sunshine State of Florida to compete in the Pensacola State College-hosted New Year's Classic, Dec. 30-31. EMCC is slated to meet Coastal Alabama-North on Tuesday followed by Calhoun the next day prior to the new year.