HATTIESBURG, Miss. --- The Mississippi College men's basketball team held a late lead, but the University of Southern Mississippi pulled away in the final minute to pick up a 77-68 victory in the season-opening exhibition on Thursday night in Reed Green Coliseum.

Senior Jaron Edwards hit a three-pointer on an assist from junior Tristan Moore with 3:28 remaining to give the Choctaws a 66-65 lead. The Golden Eagles answered with a 12-2 run over the final minutes to grab a victory over MC in front of 2,784 fans.

"I was proud of the way our guys fought tonight," said head coach Don Lofton. "The team played hard for 40 minutes, and that's all we can ask. This was a fun environment, and I think our guys responded well."

Neither team was able to pull away in the second half as the game was within a possession over a 19-minute span. A three-point play by Moore with 16:52 remaining game MC their first lead of the second half at 40-39. Moore finished the game with 14 points, and a team-high six rebounds and three steals.

The Choctaws opened the game with a 7-2 run, but the Golden Eagles scored 10 straight as Davon Hayes scored all 10 to give USM the advantage. Hayes led all scorers with 19 points to go along with five rebounds and three assists.

Southern Miss took their largest lead of the first half at eight points, but Moore found junior Giancarlo Santiago for a layup in the final seconds to cut the advantage to 37-33 at the half. The Choctaws shot 42% (24-of-57) from the floor, including going 11-of-25 (44%) in the second half.

Junior Tory Rice led the Choctaws with 16 points and five rebounds, while senior Jay Case scored 15 points, going 3-of-6 from the three-point line. Freshman Stacey Mack had eight points and five rebounds to go with three blocked shots.

Norville Carey (14 points) and Kevin Holland (11 points) were also in double-figures for the Golden Eagles, while Eddie Davis, Carey and Hayes all had five rebounds. USM went 15-of-15 from the free throw line to seal the victory.

MC forced 23 turnovers, scoring 17 points of the takeaways. The Golden Eagles scored 42 points off the bench and had 16 points in transition.

The Choctaws will be back in action on Saturday when they play William Carey at noon at Jackson State.