February 8, 2022

The Warriors of East Central Community College trimmed a 20-point first-half deficit to just four points in the final minutes on Monday night, February 7, but just could not get over the final hurdle in a tough 69-59 loss to Holmes. The Warriors drop to 4-13, 2-9 on the year, while Holmes improved to 8-11, 4-6. 

Holmes was in control early in Monday's MACCC matchup as they quickly got in front, 10-2. The Warriors began finding the basket more frequently at the 15-minute mark, but Holmes continued to grow their lead with stellar shooting, especially from three-point range. At the half, ECCC trailed 44-24 as Holmes went 8-for-16 from deep, while ECCC was 2-for-15 on three-pointers. 

The lead stayed around the 20-point range for the opening minutes of the second half until ECCC's James Granger (DeKalb) sparked a Warrior rally with a drive to the basket. The score kick-started a 12-3 ECCC run that saw baskets from Christopher Keys (Quitman), Antwan Hatten (Laurel), and Matthew Mackey (Flowood) and cut the lead to just nine, 57-48. 

Holmes bounced back and built the lead back up to 15, but another ECCC scoring burst, capped off by back-to-back three-pointers from Mackey and Keys pulled the lead down to four, 63-59, with less than three minutes to play. The Bulldogs responded on the other end, and quickly got a turnover to hang on to the lead. 

Keys finished with an 18 point, 17 rebound double-double, a career-high night on the boards, while Granger scored a career-high 18 points as he was 4-for-8 from beyond the arc. The duo were ECCC's only double-digit scorers, while Tyler Talley led Holmes with 22 points. The Warriors finished the night shooting 34 percent from the floor, 27 percent from three-point range, and 43 percent from the free-throw stripe. ECCC outrebounded Holmes, 42-39, and posted seven blocks in the loss. However, Holmes dished 20 assists to ECCC's 10. 

The Warriors are on the road this Thursday, February 10, as the team travels to Ellisville to take on the Jones College Bobcats (14-5, 6-3) at 6 p.m. That game can be seen live at jcjc.tv.