CLINTON, Miss. --- Senior Marcus Lytle and junior Tre Jenkins combined to score 43 points as the Mississippi College men's basketball team handed Henderson State their first loss of the season with a 78-73 win on Saturday afternoon in A.E. Wood Coliseum.

The Choctaws improved to 2-1 on the season, while the Reddies dropped tto 3-1.
 

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TURNING POINT

- The Choctaws took their largest lead of the second half at 67-57 with 8:11 remaining on a basket by sophomore Dyllan Taylor.
- The Reddies responded with a 10-0 run to tie the game, but the Choctaws would answer with five straight points of their own and never trail the rest of the night.
 

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HOW IT HAPPENED

- Lytle scored the first two points of the game for the Choctaws on their opening possession, and MC would end up leading for all but 35 seconds on the night.
- MC would jump out to an 11-2 lead and lead by as many as 11 at 28-17 with 7:27 remaining when senior Donovan Ham converted a three-point play.
- The Reddies would chip away and eventually take their largest lead of the game at 37-35 with 2:24 to go when Mike Fofana knocked down a jumper.
- The teams would trade baskets and the score would be tied at the break, 39-39.
- In the second half, the game would stay tight until MC went on a 10-2 run to grab a 67-57 lead with just over eight minutes to go.
- HSU would storm back to tie the game at 67-67, but Ham would drill three free throws and Lytle would knock down two more to push the lead back out to 72-67.
- Senior Isaiah Austin also knocked down a pair of free throws, while Lytle hit a dagger from the free throw line with 24 seconds remaining to give the game its final score.
 

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KEY STATS

- Lytle scored a game-high 22 points, while Jenkins hit seven three-pointers on his way to 21.
- As a team, the Choctaws shot 30-of-59 (50.8%) from the field and went 8-of-20 (40%) from long range.
- Ham also scored in double-figures with 15 points, while Taylor (5 pts) had a team-high five assists and junior Brandon Boston (4 pts) pulled down a team-best eight rebounds with three steals.
- The Choctaws forced 18 turnover and scored 23 points off those turnovers, while they also tallied 10 swipes.
- They held HSU to 28-of-60 (46.7%) shooting from the floor and just 6-of-18 (33%) from the three-point line.
- Raekwon Rogers led the Reddies with a double-double, scoring 14 points with 10 rebounds.
- Anthony Lupardus (12), Chris Parker (11) and Mike Fofana (11) also scored in double-figures for the Reddies.
 

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GAME NOTES

- The Choctaws are now 8-4 all-time against HSU, picking up a win in the first installment of the series since 1996.
- The Choctaws are now 5-1 all-time against HSU when the teams play in Clinton.
- The seven three-pointers made by Jenkins is one shy of tying the school record set by Jonathan McGee (2x) and Justin Henley.
 

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NEXT UP

- The Choctaws will be back in action on Tuesday night as they face their first road test of the season, traveling to Magnolia, Ark. to face Southern Arkansas at 7:00 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 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 2018-19 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.