VALDOSTA, Ga. --- The Mississippi College men's basketball lteam will get back on the road for two straight, beginning with a Thursday night contest against Valdosta State University in The Complex at 7:00 p.m. (Central).
This will be the 29th all-time meeting between the schools with MC holding a 15-13 edge in the series. This will be the first meeting in Georgia since the 1994-95 season, a 66-62 win for the Choctaws. MC is just 3-10 all-time at Valdosta. Back on December 20th, MC welcomed the Blazers into Clinton and handled VSU a 72-66 loss in A.E. Wood Coliseum.
Tory Rice (18),
Emmanuel Ezejiofo (17) and
Tristan Moore (16) combined for 51 points and the MC defense held VSU to just 11-of-30 from the three-point line.
Head coach
Don Lofton is in his 11th season at the helm, winning his first two games of the season for his 180th career victory. Lofton has compiled a 108-33 (.766) record at home, including a perfect mark in the 2005-06 season.
The Choctaws are coming off a 72-67 home victory over Union University that saw them make a 37-point turnaround after a 97-65 loss to the Bulldogs back on December 11th in Jackson, Tenn.
Tory Rice led MC with 24 points and 14 rebounds, his 10th double-double of the season, while
Stacey Mack tallied his first career double-double with 13 points and 11 boards.
Jaron Edwards was 4-of-5 from the three-point line with 12 points, four rebounds and four assists. After going 18-of-30 (60%) from the three-point line in the last meeting, Union was only 7-of-20 (35%) on Saturday.
The Choctaws snapped a four-game losing streak with the victory over Union, and remained perfect when holding their opponents to less than 50% shooting and fewer than 70 points. MC is also 6-0 when they hold a halftime lead this season. The Choctaws are 3-4 away from home this season, but have, perhaps, one of the best road victories of the season in the GSC, a 71-67 win at Alabama Huntsville.
Rice (16.2 ppg) is the team's leading scorer and also leads the team with 9.4 rebounds per game. He has pulled down 65 offensive boards this season, including a season-high 10 earlier this season against West Georgia.
Johnny Rucker (11.8 ppg) and
Tristan Moore (10.0 ppg) are also averaging in double-figures, while Moore leads the team with 79 assists, including 14 against West Georgia.
The Blazers, led by 10th-year head coach Mike Helfer, have had their struggles, as of late. They opened the season at 7-4, including a road victory over Delta State, but, beginning with the loss to MC, VSU has lost 8-of-10, including a current three-game losing streak. Valdosta has been a much better team at home than on the road, going 7-4 at The Complex and just 2-8 away from the friendly confines.
James Spencer leads the team in both scoring (14.4 ppg) and rebounding (7.2 rpg) and is shooting 45% from the field. He had scored in double-figures in 12 straight games before Lee held him to just four points on Saturday. Blake Justice (12.0 ppg) and Colin Cook (10.7 ppg) are also averaging in double-figures, while Cook leads the GSC with 2.4 blocks per game.
