CLINTON, Miss. --- The Mississippi College men's basketball team will welcome Delta State to Clinton on Saturday for a pivotal Gulf South Conference matchup. Tip-off in A.E. Wood Coliseum is scheduled for 4:00 p.m.

The two Magnolia State rivals are currently tied for 6th in the GSC standings with eight league games remaining. The top eight teams at the end of the regular season qualify for the conference tournament. MC is looking to make their first appearance since 1996.
 

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THE SERIES

This will be the 93rd all-time meeting between the two schools with Delta State holding a 55-37-1 edge in the series. MC is 24-18 all-time when the teams play in Clinton, including a 71-66 to close out the 2015-16 season.

Last year, the Statesmen won both games, erasing a 15-point first-half deficit on their way to a 68-58 win in Clinton. Senior Antonio Johnson scored 26 points, going 9-of-19 from the field and 6-of-14 from the three-point line.
 

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MISSISSIPPI COLLEGE (9-8, 6-6 GSC)
ROSTER  |  SCHEDULE  |  STATISTICS

The Choctaws, led by 14th-year head coach Don Lofton, are coming off a pair of double-digit road victories over Lee and Shorter. Sophomore Brandon Boston (13.3 ppg) averaged 27.5 points over the two games, including a career-high 32 in the win over Lee.

Junior Donovan Ham (15.3 ppg) scored a season-high 31 in the victory over Shorter, going 12-of-20 from the floor with a team-high nine rebounds. Sophomore Tucker Campbell (8.4 ppg) scored a career-high 20 points in the win over the Hawks, hitting 10-of-14 free throws.

Senior Antonio Johnson (12.6 ppg) leads the team in assists per game (4.5) and is shooting a team-best 40% from the three-point line and 86% form the free throw line.
 

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DELTA STATE (8-12, 6-6 GSC)
ROSTER  |  SCHEDULE  |  STATISTICS

The Statesmen, led by 6th-year head coach Jim Boone, come into Saturday's contest with three straight losses and defeats in five of their last six games. However, two of the three losses came by one point.

DSU leads the conference in scoring defense (63.5 ppg), holding opponents to just 44% shooting from the floor and forcing 13.1 turnovers per game.

Brett Warner (16.1 ppg) is the team's leading scorer, shooting 41% from the field and 33% from the three-point line. PJ Davis (15. 7 ppg) leads the team with 6.1 rebounds per game and has a team-high 32 blocked shots.
  

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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.