HATTIESBURG, Miss. --- The Mississippi College men's basketball team closed out non-conference play with an 84-75 loss to William Carey on Thursday night in Clinton Gymnasium.

HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Choctaws (3-4) shot 64% (16-of-25) from the field in the first half on their way to a 43-38 halftime lead.
- The Crusaders (8-2) went on a 10-0 run to open the second half and never trailed the rest of the game.
- Senior Byron McCall hit a bank shot with 8:06 remaining to cut the score to 60-58, but that was the closest the Choctaws would get in the second half.
- William Carey took their largest lead of the game with 2:39 remaining, grabbing a 77-66 advantage.

KEY STATS
- The Choctaws turned the ball over 27 times against the William Carey press with the Crusaders scoring 32 points off turnovers.
- Carey went 26-of-35 (74%) from the free throw line, while the Choctaws were just 14-of-25 (56%) from the charity stripe.
- Sophomore Xavion Dillon scored a team-high 18 points in his MC debut, going 7-of-9 from the free throw line with a team-high nine rebounds.
- Junior Antonio Johnson was also in double-figures with 12 points.
- Senior DeOndre Haynes scored seven points with a team-high nine assists and four steals.
- Leo Garrett of William Carey led all scorers with 24 points.

GAME NOTES
- Johnson's three-pointer in the first half made 489 straight games for the Choctaws with a long ball, dating back to March 5, 1998.
- The Choctaws are now 34-32 all-time against the Crusaders and the teams have split 22 meetings in Hattiesburg. It was the first regular season games between the teams since December 3, 1994 (MC won, 83-75).
- The Choctaws finished their non-conference schedule with a 3-1 record, going 3-0 in non-conference home games.

NEXT UP
- The Choctaws will be back home on Saturday when they host GSC-leading Christian Brothers at 4:00 p.m. in A.E. Wood Coliseum.
 

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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.