By By BRUCE HIXON – Sports Editor
Often teams might put together a great half only to be unable to string together a complete game.
After they easily put together their best half of the season in the first half, the Jefferson Davis Community Warhawks did not let complacency set in.
Instead JDCC had things under control from start to finish in Saturday's 74-61 victory over the visiting Southern Union Bison.
It marked the first time in coach Allen Gainer's eight-season regime at JDCC the Warhawks had beaten Southern Union.
Southern Union (10-7 overall and 2-1 in the Alabama Community College Conference) entered the game along with Ozark-Enterprise as the only unbeaten teams in ACCC south division play.
None of that phased JDCC (6-9 overall and 2-2 in the ACCC south), which jumped on the Bison 10-0 to start the game on a pair of buckets by Arthur Richardson, a three-pointer by Kedric Wilson, a hoop by Jairus Jackson and a free throw by Donovan McMullen.
After knocking the Bison down early, JDCC never really let Southern Union get off the mat.
The closest the Bison got was 14-7 on a three-pointer by Terrence Benson with 11:15 left in the first half.
Wilson hit a pair of threes and Jairus Jackson added another trey to spark an 11-2 run over the next four minutes that took the lead up to 25-9.
The Warhawks eventually ran that lead up to a first half high of 32-13 when Richardson converted an offensive rebound with 3:30 left in the half.
JDCC, which led 34-18 at halftime, continued to pull away at the start of the second half.
A bucket and three-pointer by Wilson and a steal and bucket by Lyndon Butler off an inbounds play knocked the cushion above 20 points at 41-20 with 17:33 left.
The Warhawks eventually pushed the lead up to 25 points when a field goal by Richardson made it 53-28 with 11:15 left.
Southern Union was unable to get the lead below 16 points until the final 30 seconds.
At JDCC
Southern Union 18 43 – 61
JDCC 34 40 – 74
SOUTHERN UNION (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Tucker 6-0-5-17; Allgood 7-0-0-14; Zinder 0-1-2-5; Glover 1-1-0-5; Benson 0-1-2-5; Ruffin 1-0-2-4; Hardrick 0-1-0-3; Swain 1-0-0-2; Dawsey 1-0-0-2 (Totals: 19-4-11-61)
JDCC (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Wilson 5-4-0-22; Jackson 3-2-4-16; Richardson 5-0-4-14; Cleveland 5-0-0-10; McMullen 0-0-3-3; McKinney 1-0-0-2; Rodgers 0-0-1-1 (Totals: 20-6-16-74)
Warhawks down Enterprise
Two days after they dealt Southern Union its first ACCC loss, the Warhawks did the same to Ozark-Enterprise with a 69-66 win on the Boll Weevil's home court.
JDCC (7-9 overall and 3-2 in the ACCC) trailed nearly the entire game until it overhauled Enterprise in the final minute of the game.
Enterprise (3-1 in the ACCC and 5-13 overall) jumped out to an 18-15 lead halfway through the first half and increased it to 36-26 by halftime.
The Warhawks would have been in an even bigger hole had it not been for the hot shooting of Arthur Richardson, who knocked down four three-pointers and scored 14 points.
The Boll Weevil took their lead up to 13 points early in the second half, but JDCC battled back thanks to a dozen points by Jairus Jackson over the final 10 minutes.
JDCC was still down 64-63 with only 45 seconds left when Lyndon Butler converted a steal into a layup to put the Warhawks ahead by a point. They were Butler's only points.
After a defensive stop, Jackson hit a pair of free throws to put the lead at three. Enterprise got a two-point bucket with less than 10 seconds left to cut the lead to 67-66, but Jackson helped shut the door with two more charity tosses.
JDCC had its most productive game of the year from the perimeter with a dozen three-pointers, six of which came from Richardson and three from Jackson. They led the Warhawks with 21 and 17 points respectively.
At Enterprise
JDCC 26 43 – 69
Enterprise 36 30 – 66
JDCC (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Richardson 0-6-3-21; Jackson 1-3-6-17; Wilson 4-1-3-14; Cleveland 2-1-1-8; Spann 2-0-0-4; Rodgers 0-1-0-3; Butler 1-0-0-2 (Totals: 10-12-13-69)
ENTERPRISE (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Taylor 6-2-2-20; Davis 4-1-2-13; Harris 3-1-3-12; Pittman 4-0-2-10; Soler 2-1-0-7; Reed 1-0-0-2; Fields 1-0-0-2 (Totals: 21-5-9-66)