ELLISVILLE – The Jones County Junior College Lady Bobcats posted a hard-fought, 76-73 victory over the Itawamba Community College Lady Indians here Thursday night at Bobcat Gym.

The contest was tied 71-71 with 36.5 seconds remaining and Itawamba had ball possession. But JCJC’s Erica Moore stole the ball and made a layup to put the Lady Bobcats ahead for good as they improved to 4-1.

In the men’s game, Itawamba took the lead for good just over five minutes into the second half and went on to defeat the Bobcats, 88-79.

The Bobcats will return home on Monday to entertain the Alabama Southern Community College Eagles. The women’s game tips off at 5 p.m., followed by the men’s contest at 7 p.m.

The games will air (audio only) on www.jcjc.edu with Lance Pittman on the play-by-play and Mark Easley providing color commentary.



Lady Bobcats 76, Lady Indians 73

Jones was in control for most of the game, but Itawamba stormed back to make it close.

The game was tied 4-4 early, but Jones went on a 15-2 run to take a 19-6 lead with 10:10 left in the first half when Tanecka Carey scored. But the Lady Indians fought back and tied the game at 23-23 with 6:40 remaining when Birdie Bowens canned a 3-pointer.

But the Lady Bobcats ended the half on a 19-6 run. Carey’s 15-footer at the buzzer gave Jones a 42-29 halftime lead.

Jones took its longest lead of the night at 51-31 when Dominique Evans drained a 3-pointer with 17:52 remaining. But ICC fought back and pulled within 59-54 with 9:14 remaining when Tiffany Pierce scored.

The Lady Indians kept up the pressure and took a 68-67 lead with 2:41 remaining when Anna Dill made two free throws. Ashley Lee then hit a layup with 2:27 to play and give Jones a 69-68 lead.

A Kerri Simmons’ 12-footer put Jones up 71-68 with 1:56 to play, but ICC’s Pierce converted a 3-point play to tie the game at 71-71 with 1:35 remaining. The Lady Indians had a chance to take the lead, but Destini Shannon missed the front end of a one-and-one and JCJC got the rebound.

However, the Lady Bobcats would not score and ICC had ball possession with around 40 seconds to play.

That’s when Moore stepped in, made the steal on the Lady Bobcat end of the court, took it to the goal and scored to make it 73-71 with 36.5 seconds left.

The Lady Indians then turned the ball over and the Lady Bobcats had ball possession. Carey was fouled with 10.4 seconds left and converted both ends of a one-and-one to make it 75-71.

ICC’s Shannon scored with 3.9 seconds to play to make it 75-73. Moore was then fouled and made a free throw with 2.3 seconds remaining. She missed the second shot, but Itawamba was unable to get off a shot before the buzzer.

Carey led JCJC, 4-1, with 18 points. Lee had 16 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Evans and Simmons both had 12 points.

ICC, 3-4, got 15 points from Pierce, 13 from Bowens and 11 from Shannon.



Indians 88, Bobcats 79

The men’s game had 10 lead changes in the first half.

JCJC took its longest lead of the game at 20-15 with 8:50 left when Kendrick McDonald hit a 15-footer. But Itawamba responded with a 10-0 run and led 25-20 with 6:16 left when Xavier Ruth made a free throw.

The Bobcats’ final lead of the night came with 3:29 left when Tiaj Kelly scored to make it 30-29. But the Indians closed the half with a 7-2 spurt and led 36-32 at intermission.

JCJC outscored ICC 11-7 in the first five minutes of the second half. Todd McDonald’s bucket with 15:00 remaining tied the game at 43-43.

However, the Indians responded with an 11-0 run and would never trail again. Jeremy Word’s free throw put ICC up 54-43 with 12:26 left.

The closest the Bobcats would get after that was 58-55 with 9:31 remaining when Nic Combs made a free throw. The Indians got the lead quickly back to 65-55 when Akeem Caddell scored with 6:54 left.

JCJC’s final threat came when Combs hit a 3-pointer to make it 72-68 with 3:37 remaining. The Indians took their longest lead of the night at 87-75 with 38.8 seconds left when Melvin Morgan made a pair of free throws.

Combs and Kendrick McDonald led Jones, 3-2, with 17 points each. Todd McDonald added 12, Kelly had 12 and Kadeem Fleming finished with 10.

Itawamba, 4-2, got 17 points from Nelson, 16 from Morgan, 13 from Word, 12 from Wesley McIntosh and 11 from Caddell.