Indians come up short against Meridian, 69-61

Indians come up short against Meridian, 69-61
Adam Gore/LetsGoICC.com

MERIDIAN, MS – Austin Timms scored 14 points in the second half, but the Indians' rally came up short as Meridian held on for a 69-61 victory on Thursday.

Down 63-50 with 2:50 left to play, the Indians (4-6, 1-1 MACJC North) clawed their way back within six points when Timms buried a three with less than a minute remaining, but the Eagles (5-3, 1-1 MACJC South) took care of business from the free throw line down the stretch to escape with the win.

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"I was proud of the guys and the effort they gave in getting back into the game," Coach Grant Pate said of the second-half rally. "We've got to be able to find ways come up stops on the defensive side of the floor before falling behind the way we did tonight."

Tyrone Wooten (Memphis, TN) had 13 points and Lakee Westbrook (Shannon) added 12 points in the loss.

"It's tough to go on the road and win in this league," said Pate. "Hopefully this will help us to continue to grow as a team and keep improving as we get ready to step into the thick of division play after the Christmas break."

The Indians will close out the 2014 half of the season with a road trip to Birmingham, AL to take on Lawson State on Saturday.

"Lawson will be another tough road test for us," commented Pate. "It being a Saturday game before Christmas break it will really test the mental toughness of our guys to be able to focus on taking care of business against a really good basketball team."

The Lady Indians (8-2, 2-0 MACJC North) will tip things off at 2:00 and the Indians will follow at 4:00.

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