CLINTON, Miss. --- For the first time in 19 years, the Mississippi College men's basketball team welcomed Delta State into A.E. Wood Coliseum, falling 77-66 on Saturday afternoon.

The Choctaws (7-6, 5-6 GSC) found themselves down 56-43 with 14:26 remaining as P.J. Davis gave the Statesmen (11-6, 8-3 GSC) their largest lead of the contest on a dunk off an assist by Alister Chisholm.

MC would chip away at the lead and tie the game 59-59 with 9:03 remaining when junior Tory Rice scored on an assist by senior Jaron Edwards. Rice tallied his eighth double-double of the season with 13 points and 11 rebounds. After a DSU turnover, junior Johnny Rucker made 1-of-2 free throws to give MC a 60-59 lead with 8:13 to go.

Delta State's Jack Madgen nailed a three-pointer on the next possession and the Statesmen never trailed again, going on an 18-6 run over the final eight minutes of the game.

Four Choctaws scored in double-figures, led by Rice's 13 points. Rucker and senior Emmanuel Ezejiofo had 12 points apiece, while junior Tristan Moore had 10 points and a team-high four assists.

The Statesmen were led by Devin Schmidt, who scored 24 points, but the Choctaw defense held him to just two in the second half. Former Choctaw, Laquavius Cotton, scored 19 points, going 3-of-5 from the three-point line. Freshman P.J. Davis came off the bench to score 11 points with six rebounds and seven blocked shots.

The Choctaws will be back in action on Thursday night when they travel to Carrollton, Ga. to face West Georgia at 7:00 p.m. (Central).