DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. --- The Mississippi College men's basketball team opened the 2017-18 season with a 92-73 loss to Embry-Riddle (FL) on Friday night at the Daytona Mitsubishi/Kia Shootout, hosted by ERAU at the ICI Center.
 

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TURNING POINT
- Sophomore Brandon Boston, who tied a career-high with 18 points, nailed a jumper with 6:04 remaining in the first half to cut the score to 29-28, but the Eagles (1-0) would close the half on a 21-6 run to take a 50-34 lead into the halftime break. ERAU would lead by as many as 29 in the second half on their way to the victory.
 

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HOW IT HAPPENED
- After the Eagles scored the first two points of the game, junior Donovan Ham hit a three-pointer for the Choctaws, giving them their first lead of the night at 3-2 just under a minute into the game.
- The game remained close in the opening minutes and a pair of free throws by junior Guy Johnson gave MC another lead at 15-14 with 10:50 remaining in the period.
- After Boston's basket with six minutes left cut the Eagle lead to just one, ERAU went on a 9-0 run and never led by fewer than eight the rest of the game.
- The Eagles held a 16-point lead at halftime, and the Choctaws appeared poised to start a comeback, cutting the advantage to 60-50 with 13:14 remaining on a jumper by junior Isaiah Austin.
- The next 10 points of the game were scored by Embry-Riddle, and the lead was safe the rest of the way.
 

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KEY STATS
- The Choctaws shot 39% (24-of-61) from the floor and 3-of-13 from the three-point line.
- MC dominate at the foul line, making 22-of-27 (82%) attempts, while the Eagles were just 8-of-11.
- Boston's career-high scoring night was aided by a team-high eight rebounds. The Pearl native went 9-of-15 from the field in the contest.
- Johnson scored 14 points off the bench, while Ham added 10 to give the Choctaws three scorers in double-figures.
- Rudy Bibb-Boyd led five Eagles in double-figures with 17 points, while Nashad Mackey had nine points and a team-high 10 rebounds.
- The Eagles shot 53% (35-of-66) from the field and 12-of-22 (55%) from the three-point line.
 

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NEXT UP
- The Choctaws will close out the Dayton Mitsubishi/Kia Shootout on Saturday when they face Palm Beach Atlantic at 1:00 p.m. (CT).
 

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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.