Men's Basketball | 1/25/2018 11:17:00 PM

ELLISVILLE – The Jones County Junior College Bobcats used a strong defensive effort to hold off East Central Community College 68-61 here Thursday night at A.B. Howard Gymasium.
JCJC is now 9-6 overall, 4-2 in division play. The Bobcats are tied with Pearl River for second in the division. Copiah-Lincoln is first at 5-1.
Jones only scored two points in the game's final 6:07, but posted the victory.
JCJC jumped out to an 11-3 lead with 15:33 left in the first half when Mason Daniels (Atlanta, Georgia) made a 3-pointer. But ECCC tied the game at 25-25 with 4:23 showing when Brandon Williams made two free throws.
The Bobcats would lead 31-30 at halftime.
JCJC held the Warriors without a field goal for the first 4:36 in the second half and took a 38-31 lead on a Winceton Edwards (Oak Grove) layup off a David Gaines, Jr. (Wayne County) assist.
The Bobcats would take their longest lead at 56-41 with 10:54 to play on another Edwards' layup off another Gaines' assist.
David McCoy's (Meridian) two free throws with 6:07 remaining gave the Bobcats a 66-52 lead.
ECCC got within 66-61 with 2:53 to play when Thurston McCarty made two free throws. But the Bobcats held the Warriors scoreless the rest of the way.
Malik Henry (Terry) closed the scoring with 12.8 seconds remaining with a pair of free throws.
Henry led JCJC with 22 points and Edwards added 11. The Bobcats were 14-of-20 off the free throw line.
McCoy and Daniels each had  6 rebounds for Jones. Michael Williams (Rayville, Louisiana) had 3 steals. Williams and McCoy each had 4 assists.
The Bobcats were 24-of-62 from the floor (6-of-23 from 3-point range) for 39 percent.
McCarty had 25 points for East Central and Jaquan Dotson added 13.
ECCC was 20-of-45 from the floor (6-of-17 from 3-point range) for 44 percent. The Warriors were 15-of-23 from the foul line.
The Warriors outrebounded JCJC, 38-34.
The Warriors are now 8-7 overall, 2-4 in division play.
Jones closes out the first half of division play at Meridian at 7:30 p.m. on Monday.
East Central entertains Hinds on Monday.
 
Thursday's game
ELLISVILLE
A.B. Howard Gymnasium
MEN
Jones County 68, East Central 61
East Central (8-7, 2-4)             30 31 – 61
Jones County (9-6, 4-2)          31 37 – 68
EAST CENTRAL (61) – Thurston McCarty 25, Jaquan Dotson 13, Cayman Ruffin 5, Cameron Diggs 4, Roti Ware 4, Josh Green 2, Tre Pinkston 2, Chandler Diaz 2, Brandon Williams 2, Tavontae Jones 2.
JONES COUNTY (68) – Malik Henry 22, Winceton Edwards 11, Michael Williams 9, Quentin Pough 8, David McCoy 7, David Gaines, Jr. 4, Kenneth Knight 4, Mason Daniels 3, Shemar Johnson 0, Omar Steele 0.