VALDOSTA, Ga. --- After jumping out to a 19-point halftime lead, the Mississippi College men's basketball team had to hold on in the final minutes to pick up an 87-77 victory at Valdosta State University on Thursday night in The Complex.

The Choctaws (9-9, 7-9 GSC) grabbed a 47-28 lead at the intermission after shooting 58% (19-of-33) from the field and going 5-of-7 from the three-point line in the first half. Senior Jay Case, who went 4-of-4 from behind the arc, nailed a triple with 11:36 remaining in the first period, and the Choctaws never led by fewer than 11 the rest of the half.

To open the second half, the Blazers (9-13, 4-12 GSC) opened on a 20-6 run and a jumper by Colin Cook with 13:56 remaining cut the MC lead to 53-48.

The Choctaws would push the lead back out to as many as 11 with 3:03 remaining as freshman Stacey Mack slammed home two points after junior Tristan Moore tallied one of his seven steals and one of his six assists on the night. Moore finished the game with 10 points to go along with his season-high in steals.

Valdosta continued to churn away at the lead and a three-point play by Josh Lemons with 50 seconds remaining cut the lead to 80-77.

Following a VSU timeout, Moore was able to bleed 23 seconds off the clock and make a huge layup to extend the lead to two possessions. Overall, MC closed the game on a 7-0 run to win their second straight game and get back to .500 on the season.

The Choctaws were led on the night by junior Tory Rice, who tallied his 11th double-double of the season with 16 points and 12 rebounds. Five Choctaws scored in double-figures as junior Johnny Rucker (13), Case (12) and junior Giancarlo Santiago (10) joined Rice and Moore with 10 or more points.

MC finished the night 7-of-12 from the three-point line and went 20-of-27 (74%) from the foul line. They scored 28 points off 19 Blazer turnovers and led wire-to-wire.

The Blazers were led by Blake Justice with 17 points, going 4-of-7 from the three-point line. James Spencer had 13 points and a team-high seven rebounds. Colin Cook finished the night with eight points, seven rebounds and five blocked shots.

The Choctaws will be back in action on Saturday when they travel to Pensacola to face West Florida at 4:00 p.m.