SCOOBA – The homestanding East Mississippi Lions scored 62 second half points and thrived off a pair of Northwest technical fouls late in the second half to run away with a 95-67 win over the Rangers Monday night at Keyes T. Currie Coliseum. 

East Mississippi improved to 6-2 overall and 2-0 in league play while Northwest dropped to 3-6 (0-2).

The Lions built a 33-24 halftime advantage with aggressive defense, holding Northwest to just six shot attempts the opening 13 minutes and to 6-of-16 aim the first half.

EMCC's D.J. Evans stole the show with 16 of his team-high 22 points in the first half on 7-of-10 shooting. 

The teams traded buckets the opening 3 minutes of the second half, with DeMarcus McVay scoring six-straight for the Rangers who trailed 45-30 with 15:51 remaining.

The EMCC lead would hover around 13 points the ensuing 5:05 until a 25-9 spurt for the Lions put things out of reach. EMCC also lived at the free throw line the final 20 minutes, connecting on 19-of-25 attempts. 

Despite the clear advantage in size, Northwest was outscored 46-24 in the paint and turned the ball over a season-high 27 times.

As a team, the Lions shot an even 50 percent (34-of-68) from the field on the night, including 54 percent in the second half, while maintaining a 46-38 advantage on the boards. Northwest finished at 35 percent.

Northwest was led by McVay's game and career-high 25 points, five rebounds and five steals.

The Rangers will enjoy a 36-day break for the holidays before returning to action Jan. 10 against non-conference opponent Columbia State (Tenn.). Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. from Howard Coliseum.