SCOOBA – The East Mississippi Community College men’s basketball team got back into the win column by claiming a much-needed 80-53 victory over Northwest Mississippi in their MACCC home opener played Jan. 16 at Keyes T. Currie Coliseum. The EMCC Lady Lions’ shooting woes resulted in a 46-35 setback to the visiting Lady Rangers in women’s action to tip off the night.

Avenging their 89-65 non-conference road loss at Northwest a week prior while playing with a limited roster due to injuries, the Lions also snapped a seven-game winless skid with their decisive victory over the Rangers.

Playing at full strength with the return of starters Jermaurhiyun Anderson, Israel Griffin DeAndre Lewis and Yamari Allette, the Lions rode Lewis’ hot-shooting effort to take a double-digit halftime advantage. The former Canton High School standout scored six of his 19 first-half points over the final three minutes with a three-point play and a buzzer-beating, three-point shot to lengthen EMCC’s lead to 11 points (35-24) by the break.

Lewis again made his presence felt coming out of halftime by scoring seven quick points during an 8-0 EMCC run that helped extend the Lions’ margin to 19 points (43-24) early in the second stanza. His fourth made trey of the game a few minutes later made it a 22-point (52-30) contest.

Starkville’s Jonathan Baker followed by scoring eight points during a 10-0 EMCC spurt that expanded the Lions’ advantage to 30 points (62-32) midway through the second half. The margin stayed at 20 points or more throughout the remaining 10 minutes of the contest, as the eventual 27-point home conference win marked EMCC’s first victory since Nov. 23.

Lewis finished with a season-high 31 points on 11-of-13 shooting from the field, including 4-of-5 accuracy from beyond the three-point arc. Baker followed with 17 points, while Allette and Josh Brown were also in double figures with 11 and 10 points, respectively.

Shavurdacour Nicholas was the lone Northwest player in double digits with 14 points on just 2-of-10 shooting from the field. As a team, the Rangers were held to 27% field goal shooting for the game, including only 4-of-17, or 24%, from three-point range.

In women’s action during EMCC’s home conference opener against Northwest, the Lady Lions’ offense sputtered due to poor shooting throughout the contest. They dug themselves an early hole with a 10-2 deficit and then trailed 22-11 at the half following a low-scoring (9-4) second quarter of play.

Following the halftime break, the EMCC women outscored the Lady Rangers, 15-13, in the third quarter. After the visitors mounted a 17-point advantage midway through the quarter, the Lady Lions went on a 10-2 run to cut the deficit to nine points (35-26) heading into the final 10 minutes of play.

Ty’Asiah Bohannon’s pair of free throws to open the fourth-quarter scoring then made it a seven-point contest. Northwest responded by scoring the game’s next six points to move back ahead by double figures (41-28).

The Lady Lions managed to trim the margin to eight points (43-35) on Micaiah Satcher’s three-point basket with two minutes left in the game, but that was as close as they would get.

Limited to just 19% shooting from the field for the game, including only 2-of-18, or 11%, from beyond the three-point arc, the EMCC women were led by Leah Wilcher’s eight points.

Northwest’s Mariah Reed-Jones topped all scorers with 15 points for the visitors.

With winter weather forcing the postponement of Tuesday’s scheduled basketball doubleheader at Southwest Mississippi to Saturday night in Summit, East Mississippi is now slated to resume conference action on Thursday, Jan. 23, by playing host to the Wolves of Copiah-Lincoln in Scooba. A 5:30 p.m. women’s game is set to be followed by a 7:30 p.m. men’s contest at EMCC’s Currie Coliseum.