ELLISVILLE – Jones County Junior College is back in sole possession of first place in the MACJC South Division.
The Bobcats had a 10-0 start to the second half and rallied to defeat Meridian Community College 91-77 here Thursday at A.B. Howard Gymnasium.
JCJC is now 9-3 in the division. East Central, Mississippi Gulf Coast and Pearl River are tied for second at 8-4. Only two games remain in the regular season.
The Bobcats trailed Meridian 42-39 at halftime, but would take the lead for good at 44-42 with 19:06 left when Rickey Holden scored. A David Davis slam dunk at the 17:15 mark put JCJC ahead 49-42.
Meridian's Ken'Darrius Hamilton scored at 14:19 to bring the Eagles within 53-49, but that was as close as they would get.
A Tristin Walley 3-pointer from the top of the key extended gave JCJC a 69-58 lead with 8:03 left.
The Bobcats took their longest lead of the game at 85-68 with 3:21 left when Christian Robertson hit a 17-footer. MCC would come back to within 85-75 with 2:07 remaining when Demarius Calvert scored.
JCJC started the game in sound shape.
The Bobcats took a 9-4 lead when Xavier Howard scored with 15:44 left. The Bobcats got a 3-point play from Davis to make it 23-19 with 7:22 showing.
But the Eagles outscored JCJC 21-12 and took a 40-35 lead with 50.6 seconds left when Ashton Pierce converted a 3-point play.
Davis paced JCJC, 14-5, with 19 points. Bruce Stevens added 18, Walley had 13 and Holden finished with 12.
Hamilton led the Eagles, 5-16 overall and 1-11 in the division, with 19 points. Tevin Smith added 12.
JCJC goes to Southwest Mississippi for a 7:30 p.m. game on Monday. Meridian entertains Copiah-Lincoln on Monday.
 
MEN
Thursday's game
Ellisville
A.B. Howard Gymnasium
Jones County 91, Meridian 77
MERIDIAN (5-16, 1-11) – Ken'Darrius Hamilton 19, Tevin Smith 12, Ashton Pierce 9, Denarrius Gray 9, Demarius Cavert 9, Devin Paicley-Smith 7, Mike Woodard 5, Javontay Rogers 4, Raphael Shaw 3, Darrin Mitchell 0.
JONES COUNTY (14-5, 9-3) – David Davis 19, Bruce Stevens 18, Tristin Walley 13, Rickey Holden 12, Christian Robertson 8, Xavier Howard 8, Maurice Dunlap 7, Andre Johnson 4, Andrew Riley 2, James Williams 0, Davin Powell 0, Zebedee Rice 0, Emetric Fells 0, Albert Goss 0.
Meridian                   42 35 – 77
Jones County          39 52 – 91