November 30, 2021
The East Central Community College Warriors lost a heartbreaker to Coahoma Community College on Monday night, Nov. 29, 82-80, to fall to 2-4 on the year. The Warriors are back at home this Thursday, December 2 as ECCC host Pearl River Community College at 6 p.m. to tipoff MACCC play.
Everything seemed to fall for the Warriors in the opening minutes of the game as three straight baskets found their way to the bottom of the net, followed by back-to-back three-pointers from Demajion Topps (Winona) and Matthew Mackey (Flowood). The explosive start quickly build a double-digit ECCC lead that grew to 16, 20-4, after David Berry (Mendenhall) and James Granger (DeKalb) nailed another pair of back-to-back three-pointers just five minutes into the contest.
Coahoma began to chip away at the ECCC lead at the midway part in the first half with a three-pointer from Gregg Magee. The Warriors' offense stalled briefly, only finding points from the free-throw line. During that four-minute stretch, the Tigers pulled the ECCC lead to single digits, before eventually tying the game at 38-38 just before the half.
In the second, the Warriors came out with some pace and quickly jumped back in front with several baskets from Topps. Midway through the half, Christopher Keys (Quitman), Berry, and Jelani Clark (San Francisco, Calif.) strung together a quick scoring streak that once again put ECCC in a commanding position, this time a 14-point, 66-52, lead. Unfortunately, that lead evaporated in the final six minutes as the Tigers posted a 14-2 run to pull game with two points with just three minutes to play. It was back and forth in the final minutes, but a pair of three-pointers from Coahomas Ben Galmore in the final two minutes push the Tigers in front.
Coahoma shot 44 percent on the night, while ECCC shot 39 percent from the floor. From beyond the arc, the Tigers were 39 percent to the Warriors' 23. Both squads shot over 70 percent from the free-throw stripe and Coahoma outrebounded ECCC by five, 46-41.
Keys led ECCC with 24 points. The freshman also posted a double-double as he had a team-best 11 rebounds. Topps finished the night with 17 points and four assists, while Clark poured in 12 points. Antwan Hatten (Laurel) rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10. Quan Brown led Coahoma with 30 points and 18 boards, while Galmore finished with 24 points.
