CLINTON, Miss. --- The Mississippi College football team closed out the 2016 season with a 42-7 loss to #7 North Alabama on Saturday afternoon at Robinson-Hale Stadium.

The Choctaws (3-7, 1-7 GSC) finished off their first season fully back in Division II and the Gulf South Conference with their first GSC win since 1995, a 32-0 victory over Shorter last week.

The Lions (8-1, 7-0 GSC) got things going early with a 43-yard touchdown pass from Jacob Tucker to Dre Hall in the opening minute of the game. They would also score on the next possession with a nine-play, 96-yard drive that finished with a 3-yard rushing score by Damon Cox.

Tucker accounted for five touchdowns in the victory, passing for 320 yards and four scores and rushing for 98 yards and a touchdown. Hall caught a team-high six balls for 109 yards and two touchdowns.

The Choctaws got on the board late in the second quarter when senior Sharone Wright found freshman Nathan Faciane in the back of the end zone for a 15-yard score with 4:58 remaining in the half.

After the Lions pushed the lead to 21-7 with under two minutes remaining in the half, the Choctaws drove down to the UNA 30-yard line and Wright appeared to have found sophomore Chakel Gates in the corner of the end zone as time expired, but the pass was called incomplete.

The second half was all North Alabama as they outscored MC, 21-0, and took advantage of five Choctaw turnovers in the season finale.

Senior Marcel Newson closed out his stellar career with seven catches for 33 yards, piling up 109 all-purpose yards, including rushing, receiving and returns. He closed out the season as MC's all-time leader in receptions per game and all-purpose yards per game.

Wright passed for 104 yards and a touchdown, while also rushing for 109 yards on 24 carries. Senior Josh Dixon piled up 30 yards on seven carries in his final game.

Defensively, junior Steven Bradley led MC with nine tackles, including seven solo stops. Senior Chris Lyles had five tackles to go along with an interception, a forced fumble and recovery. Junior Chris Manning also had an interception in the contest.

Eddrick Harris led UNA with six tackles, while Philbert Martial had five tackles and two interceptions in the game.

The Choctaws are scheduled to open the 2017 season at home against Morthland College on September 2nd. The Lions will go on to the Division II playoffs, likely as the #1 seed in Super Region 2.

Mississippi College is a private Christian university located in Clinton, Mississippi with an enrollment of over 5,000 students. MC is recently finished their transition process back to NCAA Division II and the Gulf South Conference and will be competing for conference and national championships in the 2016-17 academic year.
 
The athletic department sponsors 17 intercollegiate athletic programs: Baseball, Men's and Women's Basketball, Men's and Women's Cross Country, Football, Golf, Men's and Women's Soccer, Softball, Men's and Women's Tennis, Men's and Women's Indoor Track & Field, Men's and Women's Outdoor Track & Field and Volleyball.
 
For more information on Mississippi College athletics, please contact David Nichols at 601-925-3234 or nichols@mc.edu.