By By Richard Dark/The Meridian Star
Feb. 2, 2001
SCOOBA Thursday night, the East Mississippi Community College Lions used some of the same attributes that had helped them win four straight games, hot board work and even hotter shooting from the outside.
A plethora of that combination in the beginning of each half propelled them to their fifth straight win, this time over the Mississippi Delta Community College Trojans in a blistering rout, 86-49.
Reshard Alonza put on a dominating performance, pouring in 22 points and nine of EMCC's 42 rebounds.
That's exactly what the Lions (10-9, 6-2 in the North Division) did, jumping out to a 15-1 lead in the early going and leading by 24 at the half behind a 26-9 edge and eight 3-pointers.
Dennis Williams added 12 points and Raphael Edwards chipped in with 10 for the Lions, who are fighting for first place against Itawamba.
EMCC sank 10 of its 14 free throw attempts, while the Trojans (6-15, 2-6) only hit 18-of-31.
Indeed. The Lions allowed the Trojans to pull to within 64-39 on a layup by the Trojans' Joseph Ballard but that's as close as it would get. The Lions responded by embarking on a pivotal 10-2 run to take the commanding 30-point cushion, with the penultimate basket in the run coming in the form of a tomahawk slam dunk by Alonza that brought the house down with 6:25 to go.
The Trojans were led in scoring by Derrick Scales' 11 points in the paint.
Miss. Delta 85, EMCC women 75: The Lady Trojans mustered the 16-13 early lead, but couldn't hold it, as the Lady Trojans (10-10, 5-3) extended the lead every time EMCC got close.
The Lady Lions, seeking their second win of the year, were down by eight going into the break, but MDCC came out in the second and poured it on, going on a 15-0 run to start the half. MDCC's Shirley Gooch, who led the visitors with 23, hit a three-point play at the 12:03 mark to push the lead to 22, but EMCC responded by cutting it to 11, at 77-68 with 2:11 to go. But that's as close as the Lady Lions could get.
Kimberly Davis led the Lady Lions with 21 points, while Leah Kenyetta Moore added 17.
The Lions and Lady Lions travel to Itawamba Monday night.
Richard Dark is a sports writer for The Meridian Star. E-mail him at rdark@themeridianstar.com.