By By Robby Atkinson/The Meridian Star
Nov. 11, 2001
The Meridian Community College Eagles gave the number ten ranked Southern Union Bison all they could handle, but Southern Union came out on top at the end by a final score of 101-89.
Southern Union started the game on fire offensively by going on an 11-0 scoring tear to take the huge lead with 17:30 left in the first half of action. MCC finally mounted some offense on the next possession on a basket from Sammie Cole to cut the Bison led to 11-3 with about 17:00 left in the opening half.
After the shot by Cole the homestanding Eagles went on a 10-0 run to
trail Southern Union 11-10 with 15:18 left in the first.
Cole and Robert Ivy combined on several baskets to lead the early run for MCC.
Southern Union came right back and extended the lead on a three point field goal by Bobby Madison to make the score 15-10.
The Eagles answered on the other end of the floor with a basket from Cole to cut into the Southern Union lead once again.
Madison once again answered the call on offense for the visitor's with another big three point shot to give the Bison an even bigger lead at 18-12.
After several possessions from both squads Grady Reynolds hit two big baskets for Southern Union to make the score 24-17 with lots of time left until the halftime intermission.
Cole brought some life back into the MCC crowd with a basket to once again cut the Southern Union lead.
Freshman Michael Monroe nailed a basket in the lane to make the score 25-23 with 10:19 remaining until the half.
Madison continued his impressive offensive show in the first half by connecting on yet another three pointer to make the score 28-23 in favor of Southern Union.
Earl Bullock added one more basket for good measure on the quick run for Southern Union to build the lead to 32-25 with 8:11 left.
The Eagles mounted a small amount of offense on the next possession on a shot from Korey Moore to bring the Eagles back to within four points at 32-28.
Jammar Major silenced the crowd with a mammoth slam dunk followed by a basket from Madison to give the Bison a 38-31 lead.
With only a few seconds before the half Monroe hit a big dunk of his own to make the score 47-40 Southern Union at the end of the first half of action.
Monroe continued his great play right into the second half with an easy basket to slim the Bison lead to 47-42.
Moore answered with a basket and free throws to extend the lead to 52-42. Robert Ivy led the charge on a potential comeback for the Eagles as Ivy hit two baskets and a free throw to close the gap to 54-49 with 15:57 left in the second half of play.
MCC continued to hang around until a big moment with about 8:00 left in the game.
Monroe fouled out of the game for the Eagles leaving MCC a big hole in
the middle.
Southern Union took advantage of the situation and took an 81-68
lead behind a basket from Moore with 7:18 left.
MCC tried to climb back in the game on a pair of baskets by Ivy to trim the lead to 82-74.
A few moments later the Eagles started to see some light at the end of the tunnel on a dunk by Ivy to bring the home crown alive.
Ivy then made an amazing steal followed by a basket to make the score 88-80 with only 3:01 left in the contest.
The light would quickly come to darkness as Southern Union poured in big baskets from Moore to hand the Eagles their first loss on the young season.
Ivy led the Eagles in scoring with 30 points and Cole added 26 points in the loss for MCC.
Moore added 10 for the Eagles and Monroe chipped in with nine on the afternoon for Meridian.
Moore finished the game with 27 points for Southern Union and Terrance Hill had 20 in the victory for the Bison.
Meridian fell to 3-1 overall and Southern Union remained perfect at 3-0.
MCC will see their next action at home Tuesday night against Wallace Selma with the women tipping off at 6 p.m. and the men to follow at 8 p.m. at the Ivy Sports Center.