November 2, 2022
The Warriors of East Central Community College had Brackeen-Wood Gymnasium rocking in the season opener Tuesday, Nov. 1, as ECCC defeated the Wallace Community College Selma Patriots, 105-83. The Warriors netted 18 three-pointers on the way to victory in head coach Dylan Shields' inaugural game in the new position.
The first basket of the 2022-23 season was a Christopher Keys three-pointer in the opening minutes of play on Tuesday night, a foreshadowing of the following two hours in Brackeen-Wood Gymnasium.
The teams battled for control in the opening minutes, but Tynerious Daniels rattled home a deep ball at the 14-minute mark to give ECCC a 12-10 lead, and the team never surrendered that advantage for the remainder of the contest.
The Warriors went on to push that lead to double-digits, 25-15, over the next 10 minutes with the help of five three-pointers from Tai'Reon Joseph. At the break, the Warriors led by 14, 51-37.
The second half saw a push from the Patriots in the final 10 minutes of the contest as Wallace cut the Warrior lead to just seven, 79-72, with an 18-4 run. However, the Warriors hit back with big baskets from David Berry, Daniels, Joseph, and Julius Ellerbe. The quick scoring burst pushed the Warrior lead back to double-digits and secured the victory for ECCC.
ECCC finished the night 37-of-79 from the field, 18-of-43 from beyond the arc, and 13-of-19 from the free throw line. Wallace posted 32-of-79 shooting from the floor, 11-of-34 from the three-point range, and 8-of-13 from the free throw line. The Warriors out-rebounded the Patriots 52 to 44 in the contest.
Joseph finished the night 11-of-22 from three-point range, the most threes in the modern era for ECCC, and with 41 points, the most since Roti Ware netted 43 in 2018 against Mississippi Delta. Daniels poured in 22 points on the night, while Keys finished with 15. Ellerbe rounded out the top scorers with 10. Ellerbe led the Warriors with 10 assists and posted 11 rebounds to complete the triple-double. Berry was the team leader on the boards with 15 rebounds, while Keys hauled in 10.
The Warriors are back at home this Thursday, Nov. 3, as the team takes on the William Carey JV Crusaders at 6 p.m. Fans can watch the action live at www.eccclive.com/gold.
