CLINTON, Miss. --- The Mississippi College men's basketball team will open the 2018-19 season on Friday night when they host Belhaven University at 7:00 p.m. in A.E. Wood Coliseum.
 

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GAME INFORMATION

Matchup: Mississippi College Choctaws (0-0, 0-0 GSC) vs. Belhaven Blazers (0-0, 0-0 ASC)
Date: Friday, November 9th, 2018
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Clinton, Miss. | A.E. Wood Coliseum
 

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SCOUTING MISSISSIPPI COLLEGE

The Choctaws are led by 15th-year head coach Don Lofton, who has posted a career record of 213-155 (.579). He will be joined on the bench by first-year assistant coach Alex Ainsworth and former Choctaw Otis Harvey as a graduate assistant.

The 2017-18 season saw the Choctaws get off to a 9-8 start following a pair of road wins over Lee and Shorter near the end of January. Injuries would take their toll, however, and MC would drop their final eight games to miss out on the Gulf South Conference Tournament.

Senior Donovan Ham (14.7 ppg) and junior Brandon Boston (14.6 ppg) are the leading returning scorers with each having games of over 30 points in 2017-18. Ham led the team with 28 steals and was 2nd on the squad with 66 steals last season, while Boston is the leading returning rebounder with 6.9 boards per contest.

Transfers Marcus Lytle (East Central Univ.) and Trai James (Snead State CC) were named to the GSC Top Newcomers List in the preseason. Lytle averaged 10.7 points and 5.1 rebounds, starting all 27 games at ECU last season, while James averaged 15.0 points and was named the conference tourrnament MVP for SSCC.
 

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SCOUTING BELHAVEN

The Blazers are led by 5th-year head coach Jonathan Vines, who has posted a record of 28-104 (.181). He will be assisted this season by Jay Welborn.

Last season, Belhaven went 5-20 with a 2-14 mark in the American Southwest Conference, the league that MC was a part of from 1996-2014. Both of their league wins came against Ozarks (AR), including a season-ending victory (98-75).

Brent Webber (10.1 ppg) is the leading returning scorer from a season ago, shooting 39% from the three-point line. Also returning to the squad is Joshua Roberts, who led the team with 3.4 assists per game in 2017-18. Roberts and John Works were named to the ASC Preseason Watch List.

The Blazers were predicted to finish 6th in the ASC East Division Preseason Poll.
 

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GAME NOTES

The Choctaws and Blazers have met 85 previous times with MC holding a 56-29 edge in the series. Belhaven is the second-most played opponent for MC behind rival Delta State

The two teams will meet for the first time since November 13, 2015 when the Choctaws picked up a 71-67 victory in Clinton.

MC has won 21 of the last 22 contests, dating back to the 1986-87 season. Belhaven's only win during that stretch came on December 30, 2011.

The Choctaws had won five straight season-openers before falling to Embry-Riddle in last season's first game, 92-73.

Coach Lofton ranks 2nd in school history with 213 victories behind Athletic Director Mike Jones, who won 332 games in his tenure. He is also 4th in school history with 368 career games coached.
 

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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.