CLINTON, Miss. --- The Mississippi College men's basketball team will open the 2014-15 season on Thursday night when they host Spring Hill College at 7:00 p.m. in A.E. Wood Coliseum.
This will be the 11th all-time meeting between the two schools with MC holding a 6-4 edge in the series. The Choctaws and Badgers have not played against each other since MC picked up a 109-77 win in the 1989-90 season.
Mississippi College is led by head coach
Don Lofton, who enters his 11th season at the helm. He has posted a record of 178-91 (.662) and the Choctaws have won 9-of-10 season openers in his 10-year careeer.
The Choctaws have played three exhibition games heading into the 2014-15 season, starting out with a 77-68 loss to Southern Miss that saw MC with a lead with just over three minutes remaining. MC then had a lead over William Carey in the final minute before falling, 67-64. They then traveled to Nacogdoches, Texas where they fell to Stephen F. Austin, a 2013-14 NCAA Tournament team, 75-49.
MC returns five players with major starting experience from a season ago, led by senior
Emmanuel Ezejiofo, who averaged 13.9 points and 5.1 rebounds per game. Senior
Jay Case also comes back after averaging 10.1 points and shooting 47% from the 3-point line in 2013-14.
Senior
Rayner Fredrick returns on the low post after leading the team with 7.0 rebounds to go along with 9.4 points per game last season. Senior
Jaron Edwards averaged 6.4 points in 17 starts for the Choctaws last year.
Newcomers expected to make an immediate impact are junior transfers
Tristan Moore (Northwest MS CC) and
Tory Rice (Itawamba CC). Both started all three exhibition games and provide toughness and effort at their positions.
Two freshmen that saw a lot of playing time in the preseason were
Antonio Johnson and
Stacey Mack from McComb High School. The two helped lead the Tigers to the MHSAA 5A State Championship last season and are a good inside-out tandem that puts pressure on the defense.
Spring Hill will play their fourth game of the season on Thursday night, dropping their first three contests. Last time out, they took Carroll (Mont.) to overtime before falling, 69-62.
The Badgers are shooting 42% from the field, but are allowing their opponents to shoot 46% and have a -3.0 turnover margin. Spring Hill has allowed their opponents to shoot 30 more free throws over the first three games.
Frederick Gaston leads the team with 14.0 points per game, shooting 55% from the field and going 4-of-8 from the three-point line. Robert Drummond is also scoring in double-figures with 11.0 points per game.
