NMCC holds on to late lead this time around, routs Malden 84-47

NEW MADRID -- One problem that the New Madrid County Central Eagles have encountered early this season has been watching leads slip away late in games.

For at least one night, the Eagles put those concerns to rest with an 84-47 rout of visiting Malden on Tuesday.

"Our energy was good and that's what we wanted to see," NMCC head coach Travis Day said. "How hard can we go if we get after it and do the stuff we've been working on.

"We did that early, they got us a good lead and that's what you want to see right now."

Willie Jimerson kicked off the scoring with a quick jumper to give NMCC the lead and the Eagles never looked back, opening on a 13-2 run in the first three minutes.

Held without a field goal through the first nine minutes of the game, settling for free throws instead, the Green Wave eventually fell back 22-7 heading into the second quarter.

It wasn't until they trailed by 33-11 that Malden started to find a rhythm in the final three minutes of the half.

Dajuan Criglar hit the Green Wave's first 3-pointer of the game to start an 11-2 run that brought Malden back to within 13 points a minute before the half.

A late turnover resulted on back-to-back baskets from the Eagles, giving them a 39-22 leading going into the break.

Where in previous games NMCC let a double-digit halftime lead slip away, the Eagles came out in the third and continued to pile on the points.

Darrin McGloson hit a pair of free throws to open a 15-2 run early in the third and the Eagles took their first 30-point lead of the game midway through the frame.

Malden was able to close back within 23 points in the final minute of the third before another 15-2 NMCC run pushed the Eagles out by 36 three minutes into the fourth.

"Our downfall really is that at first we were able to capitalize on their mistakes," Malden head coach Yevgeny Sokolov said. "Then they stopped making mistakes and there was nothing we could do.

"(Our kids) showed a lot of heart in the first half and it seems like they came out firing again in the second. When it didn't go their way, the guys just broke down and it was over."

The Eagles turbo-clocked the final five minutes of the game as they improved to 3-4 on the season.

Jimerson had 23 points to lead NMCC's effort and McGloson pitched in 19. Devon Harrell and Asten Newsom scored 11 and 10 points respectively.

After watching some double-digit leads slip away earlier in the season, Day was pleased to see his team fight through any adversity that came their way.

"We talked about we've been getting up by 10 points," Day said. "Let's turn 10 into 20 and try to build every second, every quarter that we can. We had a couple lows, but then we got it back up where we needed to be."

For Malden (4-4), Cortez Dobbins had a team-high 17 points, but was held to only four during the first two quarters as the Eagles made their run. Malik Perkins was second on the team with 10.

Earlier in the night, the Eagles' junior varsity squad also came away with a win, beating Malden's junior varsity 48-41.

Chris Farr had 11 points to lead NMCC's cause while Vontre Jones and Gage Silman had 10 points each.

Malden 7 15 18 7 - 47

NMCC 22 17 26 19 - 84

MALDEN (47) -- Malik Perkins 10, Dajuan Criglar 5, Gunner Jones 6, Cortez Dobbins 17, Romello McCoy 9. FG 17, FT 10-17, F 17. (3-pointers: Perkins 1, Criglar 1, Dobbins 1. Fouled out: Edwin Hale.)

NMCC (84) -- Willie Jimerson 23, Mikeal Walker 1, JaShawn McDaniel 5, Delontre Haney 8, TJ Clark 5, Asten Newsom 10, Corey Guest 2, Devon Harrell 11, Darrin McGloson 19. FG 33, FT 14-20, F 15. (3-pointers: Jimerson 3, McDaniel 1. Fouled out: none.)