CLINTON, Miss. --- The Mississippi College men's basketball team won their third straight game, shooting 58% from the floor in a 98-88 win over North Alabama on Tuesday night in A.E. Wood Coliseum.

The Choctaws improved to 6-5 with a 3-3 mark in the Gulf South Conference, while the Lions fell to 7-5 and 2-3 in the league.
 

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TURNING POINT
- The Choctaws led 79-74 with 5:54 remaining following a pair of UNA free throws but would score the next nine points to take their largest lead of the night at 88-74 with 4:08 remaining, capped by a jumper from junior Isaiah Austin, who scored 17 points on the night.
 

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HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Lions would strike first in the opening minutes, using a 7-0 run to grab a 9-4 advantage with 16:36 remaining in the first half.
- The score would remain tight over the rest of the half, but MC used an 8-0 run in the final five minutes to take a 42-36 lead.
- MC would eventually take a 46-41 lead going into the half after shooting 18-of-33 (55%) from the field.
- The Choctaws would push the lead out to open the second half and take a 71-60 advantage with 9:21 remaining on a layup from sophomore Brandon Boston.
- The Lions would not quit, however, and would use an 12-6 run to cut the score to 79-74 with 5:54 to go on a pair of free throws from Jeff Hodge.
- Austin would spearhead an 11-3 run that would put the game away, scoring six points in that stretch as the Choctaws would take a 90-77 lead with 3:30 to go.
- UNA could get no closer than eight points the rest of the way as the Choctaws held on for their third straight win.
 

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KEY STATS
- The Choctaws went 13-of-20 (65%) from the field in the second half and 25-of-29 (86%) from the free throw line.
- Senior Antonio Johnson scored a team-high 18 points, going 5-of-10 from the floor and 6-7 from the free throw line.
- The Choctaws scored 42 points off the bench, led by 17 from Austin and nine apiece from senior Xavion Dillon and junior Leito Holloway.
- Junior Donovan Ham scored 13 points, while senior Otis Harvey added 11.
- Senior Stacey Mack scored nine second-half points, going 9-of-10 from the foul line with six rebounds, while Boston had a team-high seven boards.
- Hodge led the Lions with 22 points, sho shot 42% (30-of-72) from the field.
- Trenton Clayton and Tavares Tolliver had 15 points each, while Sharwyn McGee tallied a double-double with 11 points and 13 rebounds.
 

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GAME NOTES
- The Choctaws and the Lions played their final game as Division II opponents as UNA is currently in transition to Division I, beginning with the 2018-19 academic year.
- This was the second-highest scoring game for MC, sitting behind the 107 points they scored in a win over Southern-New Orleans.
- MC's 58.5 shooting percentage is their second-highest total on the year after shooting 58.6% in a win over Auburn Montgomery.
- The Choctaws went 30-of-36 from the free throw line, marking the first time they have made at least 30 free throws since a win over Selma on December 3, 2016.
 

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NEXT UP
- The Choctaws will be back in action on Thursday night when they host UAH at 7:30 p.m. The Lions will head to Cleveland where they will face Delta State at 7:30 p.m.
 

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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.