2013

East Central men win first game, look for many more By Tony Tsoukalas ttsoukalas@themendlanstar.com

DECATUR- East Central Community College head coachMaurice Bowie knew his 0-13Warriors would play better against Gulf Coast However, not even Bowie would have predicted hisWarriors to come out and beat the Bulldogs 91- 81. ''We got better in our last game at Hinds," Bowie said. "We just came out and played the way we were supposed to play and got our :first victory. Todaywe played a lot better. I knewwe were going to play well, I just didn't know it would be this good." TheWarriors started fast. and kept up their intensity all night, leading Gulf Coast for most of the game. Much of the Warriors success stemmed from their ability to control the ball, something that haunted the team in its previous 13 games. East Central only com– mitted 12 turnovers on the night, while forcing GulfCoast to 17. "'That was big," Bowie said. "We have had some problems with turnovers earlier in the season. We have a young guy, Chris Rhoney, he had been having some trouble transi– tioning into the college game. Now he is playing with a whole than they had all season Thursday night at home

Paula Merritt/The Meridian Star East Central Community College's Jaianah Matthew gets called for the charge against Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College on Thursday night in Decatur. erdale Knight, Rhoney was one of the league's leaders in and recording seven rebounds. 1 feel way more comfort–

turnovers entering the game. Against Gulf Coast, Rhoney only turned the ball over three times, while scoring 20 points

able now," Rhoney said. "Me and coach have been working See ECCC on page B2 ---- ~

lot more confidence in the second half of the season.'' The former West Laud-