ELLISVILLE  - The 21st-ranked Jones County Junior College Bobcats showed no ill effects of a month-long layoff.
The Bobcats led by as many as 25 points as they rolled to an 82-65 victory over Itawamba Community College here Tuesday night at A.B. Howard Gymnasium. It was JCJC's first game since an 81-72 win over East Central on Dec. 8.
The win also marked the 17^th straight victory for JCJC. The Bobcats improved to 9-0 on the current season. They won their final eight games of the 2013-14 campaign, as they captured the NJCAA Division I Men's National Tournament.
JCJC resumes MACJC South Division play on Monday when they travel to Wesson to face Copiah-Lincoln Community College. The men's game tips at 8 p.m.
Itawamba travels to Volunteer State Community College (Tennessee) for games on Thursday. The Indians step back into MACJC North Division play on Monday when they host Holmes.
Bryce Perry's 3-pointer with 18:18 left in the first half gave JCJC a 7-0 lead. ICC trimmed the lead to 11-10 with 12:13 showing when Sean Watkins scored, but that was as close as they would get for the remainder of the game.
Leading 25-19 at the 4:00 mark of the opening half, JCJC outscored the Indians 11-4 the rest of the half to take a 36-23 lead at intermission.
The Bobcats took command quickly in the second half, again scoring the first seven points. A Bryce Jones' bucket gave JCJC a 43-23 lead with 18:21 left in the game.
A Marquis Cunningham tip in gave the Bobcats a 63-40 lead with 9:44 to play. A steal and slam by Christopher White matched JCJC's longest lead of the evening at 73-48 with 6:45 remaining.
ICC rallied to within 75-61 with 4:31 left on a 3-pointer by Ron Davis. But the Indians would get no closer.
Jones and Otis Harvey led the Bobcats with 17 points each. Harvey made four 3-pointers. Cunningham and White added 10 points each. Jones was credited with 12 assists and Cunningham had 8 rebounds.
Lakee Westbrook and Barri Hill had 15 each for ICC, 5-7.
The Bobcats were 31-of-56 from the field, including 11-of-28 from 3-point range, for 55.4 percent. They were 9-of-18 from the free throw line.
ICC was only 18-of-43 from the field for 42 percent, including a 5-of-15 effort from 3-point range. The Indians were 24-of-32 from the foul line.
JCJC outrebounded the Indians, 32-23. The Bobcats had 11 turnovers, compared to 14 for ICC.


Tuesday's game
Ellisville
A.B. Howard Gymnasium
MEN
Jones County 82, Itawamba 65
ITAWAMBA (5-7) – Lakee Westbrook 15, Barri Hill 15, Austin Timms 6, Torrian Lee 5, Dee Gates 5, Tyrone Wooten 4, Kevis Fleming 4, Howard Thomas 4, Sean Watkins 4, Ron Davis 3, Cody North 0, Ben Shannon 0.
JONES COUNTY (9-0) – Bryce Jones 17, Otis Harvey 17, Marquis Cunningham 10, Christopher White 10, Bryce Perry 8, Nigel Bradley 7, Rodrigus Palmer 6, Andrew Riley 4, Albert Goss 3, Emetric Fells 0, Bennett Davis 0.
Halftime: 36-23, Jones County.