2004

WEEK OF fe_~ Warriors grab win with

By Marty Stamper EMG sports assistant

~ We missed so many free throws in the first halfthat I told them ifwe didn't tighten up, that could be the difference in the game. Brackins got his for going to the ECCC bench and mouthing off to Warrior head coach Bill Smith following Mathis' ejection. Willis made the second of his original free throws, and Martin swished home eight in a row for the technicals to pad ECCC's lead to 91- 74. Martin hit six 3-pointers and made 14-of-15 free throws to lead the Warriors with 34 points. The Warriors improved to 7-11 overall and 2- 6 in the South Division. Pearl River fell to 12-6 and 5-3. losses with a H)-point win. But the Lady Warriors were quite effective with what they did. Twelve ofECCC's 13 players scored with Rita Birden's 12 points leading the way. Lenore Gray and Monique Overstreet both had eight, Kristin Chaney, Kim Cox, and India Backstrom each had seven, and Kimyatta Viverette had six. 'That's a good balance," ECCC head coach Brad Hodge said. "We got to play a lot of people. We fortunately came out in the second half really well and played good defense and got a cushion. That allowed us to play a lot of people and a lot of people scored. "To come in and beat that group with that cushion ... we'll definitely take it." ECCC improved to 17-2 overall and 7-1 in the division. Pearl River closed to within 57-44 with eight minutes left, but Overstreet buried a pair of 3- pointers in a 58-second span to extend the lead to 65-44. Pearl River (10-9, 4-4) got 14 points from Carmen Labat and eight from Ashley Smith. ECCC led 33-23 at halftime. Warriors coach Bill Smith

DECATUR-Any time you can make 23 con– secutive free throws, you should do pretty good in a basketball game. If you can make 10 straight with no time coming off the clock, you'll be doing real good. The East Central Community College War– riors did both Thursday night, as they knocked off MACJC South Division co-leader Pearl River 94-80 at the Brackeen-Wood Physical Education Building. ECCC hung around the favored Wildcats and took the lead for good on a 3-point basket from Jamaal Martin with 5:54 left to go up 69-66. A four-point play by Martin with 3:48 remaining gave the Warriors a 75-69lead. Al Willis, Dewayne Hughes, and Martin both made two free shots over the next two minutes as ECCC pulled out to an 81-71 advantage with 1:47left. When Willis made the first of two free shots with 1:01 showing, Pearl River coach Richard Mathis and Wildcat freshman Larry Brackins combined to receive four technical fouls. could be the difference in the game," Smith said. "Of course, with all the excitement. it would have still been a close game, but they stepped up and made them in the second half." The Warriors also made 12 shots from behind lhe arc. "We have to live by the 3 and die by the 3, and tonight. we probably made about half of them," Smith said. 'That was a big win for us. That's two No. 1 seeds that we've knocked 011. If we can knock off Hinds Monday at their place, we can get right back in the race." ECCC also got 15 points from Willis, who made all seven of his free shots. Tawon Walker had 14 points, Dewayne Hughes scored 10, and Stephen Dyess had seven. Pearl River got 16 points from Jacoby Rawls, 14 from Gabe Willis and 13 from Brackins. The Wildcats took a 38-31 lead into halftime after ECCC led 13-3 with 14:50 left in the haiL ECCC(women) 72 Pearl River 56 The 17th-ranked East Central women didn't do anything fancy in avenging one of their two

"We missed so many free throws in the first half that I told them if we didn't tighten up, that plenty of free shots

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