CLINTON, Miss. --- The Mississippi College men's basketball team will close out their home schedule in 2015 when they host Christian Brothers on Saturday night in A.E. Wood Coliseum. Tip-off for the GSC contest is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

This will be the 9th all-time meeting between the two schools with MC holding a 5-3 edge in the series. CBU swept the season series from the Choctaws last season, winning the game in Clinton, 79-68.

Last season, when the teams played in Clinton, CBU shot 56% from the field in the first half on their way to a 10-point halftime lead. They held off a late charge by MC that saw them cut the lead down to 62-61 in the second half. Four different Choctaws scored 11 points, while Tory Rice pulled down a team-high eight rebounds.

The Choctaws are coming off a tough home loss to #24 Union on Thursday night that saw them jump out to an 11-0 lead but shoot just 28% from the field on the night as the Bulldogs pulled out a 61-54 victory. Johnny Rucker led MC with 11 points.

MC is led by head coach Don Lofton, who comes into his 12th season with his 200th career victory in sight. Lofton, who has been a part of the program for more than 30 years, has won 191 games as the head man.

Rice (16.0 ppg / 11.0 rpg) was held below double-figure scoring for the first time this season on Thursday, scoring eight points with 11 rebounds. The Starkville native pulled down 11 rebounds against Union, including four offensive boards. He now ranks 3rd in school history with 124 career offensive rebounds.

Seniors Tristan Moore (13.8 ppg) and Rucker (12.0 ppg) are also averaging in double-figure scoring this season. Moore has scored at least 10 points in each game and leads the team with 5.2 assists per game. The Senatobia native has 130 career helpers, which ranks 22nd in school history. Rucker went 7-of-9 from the free throw line against Union and hauled in four offensive rebounds.

The Choctaws opened the game against Union with a three-pointer by junior Otis Harvey, who is 8-of-9 from long range over his last two games. The long ball extended MC's streak of games with a made three-pointer to 463, which dates back to March 5, 1998 (vs. Sewanee).

The Bucs are led by head coach Mike Nienaber, who enters his 17th season as the winningest coach at CBU and at Bethel College. The head man played collegiately at Mississippi College, graduating in 1977 and playing four years for Doug Hines.

CBU dropped their first two games this season, falling to Stillman College twice. They backed that up with a win over Trevecca Nazarene in Nashville before falling to nationally-ranked Bellarmine and Harding. They opened conference play with home wins over Lee and Shorter.

On Thursday night, the Bucs went to Cleveland and lost a close game to Delta State, 74-71. Cody Garbuzinski led the team with 17 points, while Adam Dieball had 16 points with a team-high nine rebounds and five assists.

Jeff Larkin (17.4 ppg) is the team's leading scorer, while Drew Hildreth (14.3 ppg / 8.0 rpg) ranks second in scoring and leads the team in rebounding and blocked shots (14).

The Bucs are shooting just 30% from the three-point line, but they are outrebounding their opponents and holding teams to just 44% shooting from the field.