Mississippi Delta sweeps Co-Lin in season opener
Published 11:40 am Tuesday, November 5, 2013
MOORHEAD – The Mississippi Delta Trojans swept the Copiah-Lincoln Wolfpack in their 2013-2014 season debut in Moorhead on Monday night.
The Lady Trojans defeated the Lady Wolves (0-1) in a thriller 79-78. The Wolfpack (0-1) fell to the Trojans 63-57.
Lady Trojans 79, Lady Wolves 78
It will go down as one of the wildest endings to a game in head coach Gwyn Young’s 38 seasons on the bench.
The Lady Wolves held a 78-75 lead with only 3 seconds remaining in the game. Sophomore guard Ashley Minor appeared to make a game-ending steal, but called a timeout after being knocked to the floor with the ball. Co-Lin was out of timeouts and a technical foul and the Lady Wolves were called for a technical foul.
Mississippi Delta made both free throws after the technical to cut the Co-Lin lead to 78-77. The Lady Trojans inbounded the ball in at half court with 3 seconds on the clock. Mississippi Delta’s Ashanti Spencer threw up a desperation 3-point attempt just before the final horn. The shot was an air ball that was rebounded and put back in by Delta’s Aqueshia Kimble as the horn sounded. The referee with the clearest view of the basket waived the shot off as no good as soon as the buzzer went off. His vantage point was the best to see if the ball had left Kimble’s hand before the clock expired. After a lengthy discussion between all three officials, the shot was ruled good and the Lady Trojans claimed the 79-78 victory. A wild celebration took place after the final ruling, including Delta students and fans storming the court.
Leading the Lady Wolves with 18 points was freshmen guard Claresa Banks. Minor finished with 16 points and sophomore post player Jessica Wilson added 15 points. Freshman guard Tyra Gibson chipped in 14 points.
Kimble, in addition to scoring the game winner, was the games high scorer with 25 points.
Trojans 63, Wolfpack 57
The Wolves (0-1) kept the game close in a typically tough MACJC road affair, but it was Delta who made the big shots down the stretch to hold on for a 63-57 win.
Co-Lin was playing their first game under new head coach Kenny Bizot. Bizot would see his team play solid defense throughout the night, but they lacked an answer for Delta’s big man, James Evans. Evans would score 12 points and come up with big offensive rebounds every time Co-Lin would draw close.
Freshman guard Terry Morris led Co-Lin with 12 points and sophomore Chris Steverson chipped in 11 points.
Mississippi Delta was led by sophomore Johnny Rucker with 19 points.
Co-Lin hosts Holmes Community College in their home debut Thursday, Nov. 7. The women tip off at 6 p.m. with the men’s game to follow. Both games will be streamed live at www.colinathletics.com or listen at WMJU 104.3 FM in Brookhaven.