By By Will Bardwell / staff writer
November 9, 2004
SCOOBA Just when everything seemed to be falling apart for East Mississippi Community College, Phillip Lockhart picked up the pieces.
After the Lions' 11-point lead crumbled to three late in the second half on Monday, Lockhart scooped up a loose ball, dribbled behind his back to weave around two defenders, drained a layup over two more defenders and drew a foul.
Lockhart's ensuing free throw gave East Mississippi a six-point lead that never again came in serious jeopardy as the Lions held off Pearl River Community College 64-60 for their first win of the season.
Lockhart finished with 10 points as one of three Lions in double figures. Boo Ramsey hit five three-pointers for a team-high 15, and Jarvis Williams added 14 for East Mississippi (1-2). Pearl River's Alton Robinson led all scorers with 19 points.
Despite their balanced scoring attack, offense started slow for the Lions, who fell behind by eight midway through the first half. East Mississippi managed just 12 points in the game's first 12 minutes, but more than doubled that output over the remainder of the period. Dupree Hall gave the Lions their first tie since the opening minutes with two free throws that knotted the game at 20, and after Pearl River briefly reclaimed the lead, Ramsey put East Mississippi in front with a three-pointer for a 23-22 lead.
The Wildcats rebuilt a three-point lead with three minutes to go before halftime, but Calvin Moore hit a free throw with 1:32 left before halftime for a 27-26 East Mississippi lead.
The Lions never trailed again.
East Mississippi went up 42-32 with 12 minutes left in the game after a Williams three-pointer, and the Lions took a 47-36 lead a minute later when Patrick Jackson converted a three-point play.
While building their 11-point advantage, the Lions held the Wildcats to just 10 points over the first 10 minutes of the second half.
Pearl River cut East Mississippi's lead to 58-54 with three minutes left, but Lockhart rescued the Lions with his own three-point play that kept East Mississippi in front for good.
Pearl River CC 77
EMCC 56
The Lady Lions found out on Monday how hard it is to climb back into a game and how quickly things can fall apart again.
After spending the better part of the first half erasing an early deficit, East Mississippi (1-2) fell victim to a 19-4 run in the second half before losing 77-56 to Pearl River.
East Mississippi fell down by as many as 12 in the first half before mounting a late rally. Kemonica McGee banked in a three-pointer with four minutes left before halftime to cut Pearl River's lead to seven. With less than two minutes to go in the period, Jennifer Jones trimmed the Lady Wildcats' lead to 31-28 with two free throws, then closed the gap to one point on a put-back underneath.
But that one-point margin was as close as the Lady Lions came. Pearl River expanded its lead to five at the break and never looked back in the second half. The Lady Wildcats reclaimed a double-digits lead when Carmen Labat hit a three-pointer with 13 minutes to play, and Pearl River went up by 25 on a Vontrease Smith layup with eight minutes left.
The Lady Wildcats' largest lead was a 73-46 advantage with seven minutes to go.
East Mississippi hurt its own cause with abysmal free throw shooting, connecting on only 14-of-33 (42.4 percent) from the charity stripe.
McGee led East Mississippi with 16 points. Jocelyn Spearman added nine.