By By SCOTT COOPER – Sports Writer
Although the Jefferson Davis Warhawks had high hopes as they traveled to meet Southern Union Community College in the first round of the Region 22 tournament, they returned home with a 95-72 loss that put an end to their season.
Southern Union raced out to a decided advantage minutes into the game that proved to be too much for JDCC to overcome. The Warhawks regrouped after falling behind to mount several rallies that showed promise, but ran out of gas as the game progressed well into the second half.
Southern Union built a 6-0 lead before Jeff Davis got on the scoreboard, and then continued their early domination by pushing the advantage to 20-4. The Warhawks got on track on the offensive end midway through the opening half and played Southern evenly the remaining 10 minutes before intermission. However, they still entered the break facing a 17-point deficit, 48-31.
A Jamal Carson jump shot to begin the final 20 minutes of play reduced the Southern lead to 15 points, but then the hosts responded with three consecutive 3-point plays that stretched their advantage to 24 points.
JDCC continued to battle as the second half wore on, cutting the deficit down to 14 points with less than 10 minutes left in the contest. But, the Warhawks began to tire as the final minutes ticked down and Southern took advantage by upping the leading margin to 23 points by game's end.
Offensive leaders for the Warhawks were Ephriam Hudson, 16 points; Jamal Carson, 10 points and Kenny Thompson, 10 points.