MERIDIAN —     The East Central Community College men's basketball team got a pair of free throws from TeJiminon Leatherwood in the final seconds of regulation to force overtime against visiting Copiah-Lincoln on Thursday. The Warriors then pulled away for an 85-78 win.

    Aquill Baynard led the Warriors, who improved to 2-19 and 2-8 in the MACJC South Division, with 25 points and 14 rebounds. Chris Rhoney, a West Lauderdale product, added 17 points while Leatherwood finished with 16. Walter Evans chipped in with 11.

    The Wolfpack, which dropped to 4-17 and 2-8, got 15 points apiece from Chris Steverson and Fred Fairman.

— Jamie Wachter



Co-Lin women    80

East Central    70

    Co-Lin pulled away from a halftime tie Thursday on the road to improve to 18-3 and 9-1 in the South.

    East Central, meanwhile, fell to 7-14 and 4-6, despite 31 points from Xzandra Dowd, 19 points and 14 rebounds from Jakela Johnson and 10 points from Jaianah Matthew.

    The Warriors host Jones County on Monday in the home finale.

— Jamie Wachter



JUCO BASEBALL

Bossier Parish sweeps host Meridian doubleheader

    The Meridian Community College baseball team patiently waited through a pair of schedule changes this week due to heavy rain in the area before returning to Scaggs Field on Thursday afternoon. MCC didn't enjoy its return to the diamond as Bossier Parish swept the Eagles (4-8, 8-10) in doubleheader action. The Eagles now fall to 4-4 overall and will continue its 14-game home stand with a pair of games Sunday.

    The Eagles are scheduled to square off with Coahoma at noon Sunday and will tangle with Pearl River Sunday night at 6 p.m.



Bossier Parish    8

Meridian    4

    The Cavaliers scored six early runs and were able to hold off a late MCC rally to take the four-run victory in the opening game of the doubleheader. Both teams finished the contest with 10 hits apiece and Garrett LaRosa led the way for MCC by reaching base three times, and adding a solo home run.

    Kevin Hall, Dallas Hannah, Paul Angel, and Ben Gann each had two hits apiece in the loss. Former Quitman standout Jace Belcher (0-1) took the loss by working into the third inning and allowing five earned runs, to go along with one strikeout.



Bossier Parish    10

Meridian    8

    Bossier Parish completed the sweep of Meridian in an offensive showcase in the second game of the doubleheader. The Eagles finished the game with 12 hits and the Cavaliers had nine hits.

    Johnathan Youngblood led the way in the second game for MCC with three hits, while Charles Morton knocked in a pair of runs on two base hits. Tanner Vandevere added a two-run double in the loss and Paul Angel chipped in with a couple of base hits.

    Kellon Hibbard (1-1) took the loss out of the bullpen for MCC in relief of former Lamar School star Whit Haggard.

— from school reports



ECCC to host annual

Rush Invitational

    Three days of community college baseball competition gets under way today when the 2013 Rush Invitational is held at East Central Community College’s Clark/Gay Baseball Complex on the Decatur campus.

    EC’s Diamond Warriors begin today’s action with an 11 a.m. matchup with Southeastern (Iowa). Southeastern and Hinds battle at 1:30 p.m. and will be followed by the Hinds/Faulkner State (Ala.) Community College contest at 4 p.m. The final game of the day has East Central taking on Faulkner State at 6:30 p.m.

    Games Saturday include Faulkner State vs. Lincoln Land at 10 a.m.; Faulkner State and Baton Rouge at 12:30 p.m.; and Baton Rouge and Lincoln

Land at 3 p.m.

    Lincoln Land and Baton Rouge begin Sunday competition at 11 a.m. East Central and Lincoln Land meet at 1:30 p.m. followed by the East Central/

Baton Rouge matchup at 4 p.m.

    All EC games are nine-inning contests. The other matchups are seven inning battles.

    Admission is $5 per day or $10 for a three-day pass.

— from school reports



COLLEGE BASKETBALL

West Florida    76

West Alabama    64

    PENSACOLA, Fla. — West Florida totaled 45 rebounds to West Alabama's 27 to defeat the Tigers 76-64 on Thursday.

    “We just didn't play well tonight,” said UWA head coach Mike Newell. “Offensive rebounds are what hurt us the most and we haven't hardly been beat out in the boards this season. West Florida has a very good basketball team and they shot it very well.”

    The loss drops West Alabama to 4-9 in the Gulf South Conference; 8-12 overall. West Florida now improves to 6-8 in the conference; 11-11 overall.

    Steven Samuels led the Tigers in scoring for the third time in four matches with 24 points. Sophomore Aaron Cobb hit his season scoring high with 11 points.

    West Florida's Nate Johnson and Ellis Young both finished with double-doubles. Johnson totaled 20 points and 10 rebounds while Young tallied 17 points and 14 boards.  

    The Argonauts jumped to a 14 point lead in the first 10 minutes of action. The Tigers responded with a 14-0 point run to tie the game at 22-22 with five minutes left in the half. UWF recovered with a 33-24 lead heading into halftime.

— from school reports

    UWF came back to control the entirety of the second half. The Argos extended their lead to 18 points with 6:24 remaining and maintained the lead to finish with a 76-64 victory.



The Tigers will remain on the road to take on Valdosta State on Saturday. Tipoff is set for 7