EMCC Lions return home from successful Thanksgiving tourney action to host Shelton State in hoops rematch

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. – The Lions of East Mississippi Community College enjoyed a successful holiday trip to the Show Me State this past week by posting a pair of double-digit wins at the Bank of Grandin Thanksgiving Classic hosted by Three Rivers College. EMCC bounced back from an 88-72 Thursday night setback to the host TRC Raiders with solid victories the next two days over Wabash Valley College (84-62) and Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College (95-85) at the Libla Family Sports Complex in Poplar Bluff, Mo.

On Thanksgiving night, EMCC and TRC battled to four early ties before the Lions held a three-point edge (19-16) midway through the opening half. A pair of three-point baskets by Three Rivers' Drew Ward sparked an 8-0 run that gave the hosts a lead they would not relinquish the rest of the contest. The Raiders closed the first half with a 43-33 lead.

Following intermission, the Lions cut into TRC's 10-point halftime lead by scoring the first eight points of the second half. The Raiders responded by scoring six unanswered points on their way to building a double-figure advantage later in the half.

With Three Rivers having led by as many as 16 points (67-51) midway through the second stanza, the Lions' full-court defensive pressure helped ignite a 9-0 EMCC run that whittled a 14-point deficit to just five points (77-72) with three minutes remaining in the game. That's as close as the visitors would get, however, as the Raiders went on to score the last 11 points of the contest to pull away with the misleading 16-point win.

EMCC freshman guard Jordan Alexander led a quartet of double-digit EMCC scorers with a game-high 22 points. DeAndre Lewis followed with 16 points, including 11-of-12 free throws, while Diovion Famakinde and Ace McKinnie added 12 and 11 points, respectively, for the Lions.

The Raiders, who went 3-0 during the three-day tournament, were paced by Tristin Fleming's 20 points in their opening contest. Three Rivers held a 43-26 rebounding advantage over EMCC in the contest and shot 51 percent (29-57 FGs) from the field.

Less than 24 hours later, East Mississippi rebounded with a convincing 22-point (84-62) victory over Illinois-based Wabash Valley College in a Friday contest that featured eight lead changes through the game's opening 22 minutes of action. As they did the previous day against host Three Rivers, the Lions came out strong following the halftime break by flipping a five-point deficit into a 45-40 lead four minutes into the second half.

EMCC held the advantage for the remaining 16 minutes of the contest, though the Warriors pulled to within a basket (53-51) midway through the half. The Lions responded with seven straight points, capped by Lewis' three-pointer at the 8:45 mark, to regain control of the contest. EMCC outscored WVC, 24-9, over the final eight minutes of the game to register the bounce-back triumph.

EMCC's Alexander continued his hot shooting by scoring a game-high 27 points on 7-of-11 accuracy from the field, including 4-of-7 from behind the three-point arc, and 9-of-10 from the free throw line. Lewis and Famakinde followed with 15 points apiece for the Lions.

Taj Ford paced Wabash Valley with 14 points against EMCC.

In their third game in as many days, the EMCC Lions trailed Northeastern Oklahoma A&M for most of the opening half on Saturday afternoon. After being down by as many as 10 points (15-5) early in the contest, East Mississippi scored the last 10 points of the opening half to grab a 40-32 halftime advantage over the Golden Norsemen.

The Lions' strong second-half shooting performance proved to be the difference in the game. Following intermission, EMCC shot 54 percent (14-26 FGs) overall from the field over the final 20 minutes of action, including a sizzling 8-of-15 (53%) from beyond the three-point line, and a perfect 19-of-19 from the charity stripe.

After NEO cut the deficit to four points (52-48) with a 9-2 run early in the second stanza, EMCC's Alexander and Josh Brown combined to drill six straight made treys between them during a game-deciding, five-minute stretch that ultimately gave the Lions a 22-point (81-59) cushion with seven minutes left in the contest.

To their credit, the Golden Norsemen battled back by scoring 10 unanswered points to trim the deficit to nine points (85-76) with 2:34 left in the game. The Lions nailed down their eighth win of the season by scoring their last 10 points from the line to seal the 10-point getaway victory.

Alexander, a 6-foot-4 sharpshooter out of Buffalo, New York and a product of the Lakeland, Florida-based Bay Area Academy, matched his season high with 33 points on 10-of-18 shooting from the field, including 7-of-15 three-point accuracy, along with hitting all six of his free throw attempts. Sparked by his 23-point, second-half shooting exhibition against Northeastern Oklahoma A&M, Alexander averaged 27.3 points during his three tournament outings this past week by shooting 54 percent (25-46 FGs) from the field, 46 percent (12-26 treys) from the arc and 91 percent (20-22 FTs) from the line. He also averaged 5.7 rebounds over the three tourney contests.

With four players scoring in double figures for the second time in three games, EMCC also received 14 points from Lewis in the NEO contest. McKinnie and Maurice Henderson followed with 12 and 10 points, respectively, for the Lions.

The Golden Norsemen also had a quartet of double-digit scorers, led by Justin McCarter's 26 points.

On the heels of posting season-best, single-game team efforts with 95 points scored, 12 made three-pointers and 85.3 percent free throw shooting in their tournament finale against NEO, head coach Billy Begley's 8-2 EMCC Lions return home to play host to Shelton State Community College during a Monday (Dec. 1) rematch hoops doubleheader on the Scooba campus. A 5:30 p.m. women's contest against the nationally ranked Lady Bucs will be followed by a 7:30 p.m. men's nightcap at EMCC's Keyes T. Currie Coliseum.