SCOOBA/UTICA — East Mississippi Community College’s basketball teams posted contrasting margins against Hinds during Monday’s MACCC hoops action. The EMCC Lady Lions claimed a commanding 87-47 home victory over the Hinds women at Keyes T. Currie Coliseum, while the 19th-ranked Lions dropped a narrow 74-73 road decision to the Bulldogs at J.D. Boyd Gym.

On the Scooba campus, the home-standing EMCC women broke open an early 9-6 contest by scoring 14 unanswered points to take a 23-6 lead on Siarra Jackson’s three-point play with four minutes remaining in the first quarter. On her way to scoring 14 first-half points, Jackson later put back her own miss to give the Lady Lions a 20-point (38-18) advantage midway through the second quarter.

EMCC continued to build on its 44-22 halftime advantage throughout the second half. Markiema Lancaster’s pair of free throws stretched the margin to 31 points (60-29) with three minutes left in the third quarter. The Lady Lions then matched their 27-point opening quarter by outscoring the Lady Bulldogs, 27-13, during the final period en route to the decisive 40-point triumph.

In snapping a three-game losing skid, head coach Sharon Thompson’s EMCC Lady Lions improved to 9-10 overall and 6-5 in MACCC play. Jackson, from Ripley, registered her second straight double-double by tying her career high with 19 points and adding 11 rebounds. Shakira Wilson followed with 15 points on 3-of-4 three-point shooting, while Lancaster (12 pts & 9 rebs) and Kyunna Thomas (11 pts & 8 rebs) both approached double-doubles for the winners.

The winless Hinds Lady Bulldogs (0-16, 0-11 MACCC) were led by Patrice Broomfield’s 12 points.

During men’s action played in Utica, the visiting Lions led for the majority of the opening 20 minutes of play. Late in the first half, Brandon Deravine’s hook in the lane and subsequent three-point play plus a Blake Butler bucket put EMCC in front, 40-31, with two minutes left until halftime.

Riding the hot hand of sophomore forward Jakorie Smith’s 17 first-half points, the Lions owned a 42-36 halftime lead over Hinds.

Following the break, EMCC maintained a solid margin for the opening six minutes of the second stanza. Consecutive made treys by Danny Washington gave the Lions a double-digit (60-50) lead by the 14:26 mark of the half.

Sparked by the red-hot shooting of Jalen Myers, the home-standing Bulldogs responded with 11 unanswered points to take a 61-60 lead midway through the half.

The next six minutes of action saw four more lead changes and a pair of ties before back-to-back three-pointers by Martarious Burrell and Treylan Smith put Hinds on top, 71-67, with three minutes remaining in regulation.

After the teams traded turnovers, a Kyle Hayman dunk for Hinds was answered by Traemond Pittman’s drive to the rim and Smith’s inside post move to knot the score at 73-73 with 53.8 seconds left. Following a Hinds missed three-point attempt, EMCC’s Butler was stripped of the ball by Jamaal Esco on a drive to the basket with six seconds showing on the game clock. Burrell was then fouled on the other end and hit the first of two free throw attempts with two ticks remaining to account for the final score.

In having their three-game win string halted, head coach Billy Begley’s EMCC Lions fell to 15-5 overall and 8-3 in conference action. Smith recorded his 19th career double-double by finishing with 23 points and 12 rebounds. Deravine and Butler followed with 17 and 13 points, respectively, for the visitors.

Improving to 7-12 overall and 5-5 in MACCC play, the Hinds men were powered by Myers’ game-high 34 points on 12-of-18 shooting from the field and 7-of-8 from the line along with a dozen rebounds. Hayman followed with 15 points for the Bulldogs.

The East Mississippi basketball teams will continue MACCC play by taking on the Indians of Itawamba Community College during Thursday’s (Feb. 10) conference hoops action. The EMCC-ICC men’s contest will tip off at 6 p.m. at Currie Coliseum on the Scooba campus, while the women’s game will begin at 5:30 p.m. at the Davis Event Center in Fulton.