The East Central Community College Warriors left it all on the floor against Gulf Coast Thursday night as they erased an 11-point deficit in the final seven minutes of play, but came up just short, 83-78, for their first loss of the season. The loss drops the Warriors to 2-1 overall and improves the Bulldogs to 4-0.
Midway through the first half, after a slow start from both squads, the Bulldogs went on a quick 5-0 run to pull ahead by six points before a big Matthew Mackey (Flowood) three-pointer got the Warriors back on solid footing. That three-pointer sparked a 22-3 ECCC run that lasted nearly six minutes. The Warrior offense was hitting shots from all parts of the floor and capitalizing on Gulf Coast turnovers during the scoring onslaught. Just five minutes before the half, ECCC led by 13, 35-22.
However, the pendulum of momentum swung back into Gulf Coast's favor for the final five minutes of the half as the Bulldogs rallied and went on yet another scoring streak, eventually tying the game for the fifth time, at 40-all at halftime.
The streaky gameplay continued into the second half as Gulf Coast went on a 17-5 run to open the half and built a double-digit, 65-53, lead at the halfway point of the final 20 minutes. The Warriors refused to throw in the towel down the stretch and had some big baskets from Demajion Topps (Winona)and Christopher Keys (Quitman) to help start yet another ECCC offensive run that got the Brackeen-Wood Gymnasium crowd involved. As the ECCC energy built, Jelani Clark (San Francisco, Calif.) blew the roof off with a corner three-pointer with three minutes to play to pull the Warriors within one, 74-73. Unfortunately, the Bulldogs connected on a pair of free throws on the other end and followed with a couple of layups off turnovers to pull the game just out of reach in the final minutes.
The Warriors finished the night shooting 33 percent from the floor, while the Bulldogs shot 42 percent. Gulf Coast outrebounded ECCC, 60-45, but the Warriors stuck around by forcing 27 turnovers on 18 steals. Clark led the Warriors with 19 points, while Keys finished with 16 after going 5-for-7 from the free throw stripe. Topps added 11 points on a team-high three, three-pointers, and David Berry (Mendenhall) came off the bench to add 10. Keys picked up his first collegiate double-double as he led the Warriors with 14 rebounds.
The Warriors are on the road for their next two games with a trip to Meridian on Thursday, November 18, and to Co-Lin on Monday, November 22. ECCC is finally back at home in Brackeen-Wood on Monday, November 29 to take on Coahoma at 7 p.m. for the final non-conference matchup of the year.