January 21, 2022
The East Central Community College Warrior basketball team had a tough road test in Perkinston on Thursday afternoon, Jan. 20, and fell 92-75 to Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College. The loss drops the Warriors to 4-8, 2-4 on the year while the Bulldogs improve to 12-4, 4-3. The Warriors look to end a three-game skid with a home game against the Northwest Mississippi Community College Rangers next Monday, Jan. 24.
The game opened with solid play from both the Warriors and Bulldogs as the game was tied on three separate occasions in the first five minutes of play. Midway through the opening half, MGCCC built a five-point advantage, but a 10-2 ECCC run with baskets from Christopher Keys (Quitman), David Berry (Mendenhall), and Matthew Mackey (Flowood) gave the Warriors their first lead of the night, 29-26.
That lead traded hands three more times in the final minutes of the first frame, but a pair of Bulldogs three-pointers from Melvin Flanagan and Donovan Sanders allowed MGCCC to take a 44-41 lead into the locker room.
A Keys deep ball and a pair of baskets from ECCC's Demajion Topps (Winona) kept the Warriors in the game in the early going of the second half as the game was all-square at 51-51 just two minutes into the second. Unfortunately, an 11-1 Bulldog scoring burst, aided by some offensive rebounds, put MGCCC in control with 15 minutes to play. The Warriors were unable to bounce back from the scoring run as the Perk lead stayed in double-digits for most of the remaining minutes.
Despite the loss, there were several notable ECCC performances as Topps led the Warriors with 21 points, his third 20 plus game of the season. Keys poured in 19 points on four-of-seven shooting from downtown, while Berry added 12. Keys also led the squad in rebounds with seven despite fouling out relatively early in the second half.
Overall the Warriors shot 44 percent from the floor and 31 percent from three-point range, but posted just 48 percent from the free-throw stripe. Gulf Coast out rebounded ECCC by 10, 45-35.
Monday's matchup with Northwest, just the second meeting of the two teams since 2012, will tip at 6 p.m., and fans that cannot attend the game can watch the action live at www.eccclive.com/gold.
