Bucs Drop Road Game at EMCC

SCOOBA, Miss. - The Shelton State men's basketball team couldn't overcome an early deficit and fell to East Mississippi Community College 73-60 at the Keyes T. Currie Coliseum. 

Shelton State (8-2) trailed 44-24 at halftime before a late second-half rally  saw the Bucs cut the deficit to 63-54 after a layup by freshman Anderson Wilkin (Tuscaloosa) with just over five minutes to play.

Wilkin finished the night with nine points, including 7-for-8 at the charity stripe. His lone miss snapped a streak of 19 consecutive free throws made.

East Mississippi (9-2) outscored the Bucs 10-6 the rest of the way for the 13-point win. 

The loss snapped the Bucs five-game winning streak. 

Sophomore Shah Hall (Tuscaloosa) had a career-high 15 rebounds and five blocked shots for the Bucs. He recorded 10 blocked shots in two games with EMCC this year. 

The Bucs made 26-of-29 free throws in the game.

East Mississippi jumped out to a 14-2 lead when Jason Tatum hit a 3-pointer with 11:47 left in the first half. 

The Lions stretched the lead to 25-7 as the Bucs could not find any rhythm in the first half. 

Shelton State made more free throws than field goals in the first half. The Bucs made 15-of-17 free throws and made only four field goals. The Bucs didn't reach double figures for until Rodwick Jackson (Headland) hit a pair of free throws with 5:11 left.

Jordan Alexander (22) and Diovion Famakinde (17) paced the Lions. 

The Bucs return to action on Thursday, Dec. 4 against Itawamba Community College at 7:30 p.m.