CLINTON, Miss. --- The Mississippi College men's basketball team could not overcome an eight-minute stretch with no field goals in the second half as Delta State grabbed a 74-65 road win in A.E. Wood Coliseum on Saturday afternoon.
 
The Choctaws dropped to 4-4 overall with a 1-2 mark in the Gulf South Conference, while the Statesmen improved to 6-3 with a 2-1 league record.
 

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TURNING POINT
 
The Statesmen went on a 7-0 run with just under six minutes remaining, pushing their lead out to 66-56, after the Choctaws had cut the score to just three points in the second half.
 

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HOW IT HAPPENED
 
Junior Brandon Boston scored MC's first points on a jump shot just a minute into the game, and the Statesmen held an early 4-2 lead.
 
DSU would use a 14-5 run over the next five minutes to take their largest lead of the first half at 18-7 following a layup from Justin Slocum.
 
The Choctaws used a 9-0 run to cut the score down to 24-23 with 8:16 remaining after junior Scot Hundt nailed a three-pointer.
 
The Statesmen used a pair of 5-0 runs over the final eight minutes to extend the lead and would eventually take a 38-33 lead into the halftime break.
 
Hundt opened the second half with a three-pointer, but DSU would push the lead back up to 42-36 after a 4-0 run by Brett Warner.
 
Back-to-back buckets from senior Isaiah Austin and junior Tre Jenkins would cut the score to 42-41 with 17:01 to go in the game.
 
The game would remain tight over the next 12 minutes as senior Marcus Lytle knocked down a pair of free throws to make the score 59-56 with 5:50 to go.
 
The Statesmen would score the next seven points and would lead by no less than eight points as they walked away with the road victory.
 

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KEY STATS
 
The Choctaws opened the second half 6-of-10 from the floor but would hit just 3-of-11 down the stretch as the Statesmen pulled away for the victory.
 
On the night, MC went 21-of-50 (42%) from the field but went just 6-of-19 (32%) from the three-point line.
 
Lytle led the Choctaws with 15 points, going 9-of-10 from the free throw line as MC was 17-of-20 (85%) from the charity stripe on the night.
 
Boston was the only other Choctaw in double-figures with 12 points, going 5-of-13 from the field.
 
The Choctaws dished out 11 assists on 21 made field goals, led by sophomore Dyllan Taylor with four helpers.
 
MC would turn the ball over just eight times on the night and would score 12 points off 13 DSU giveaways.
 
Rasheide Bell scored a game-high 17 points for the Statesmen, going 5-of-10 from the field and 6-of-8 from the free throw line.
 
Matthew Wilson came off the bench to score 13 points, hitting 3-of-5 from long range, while Warner also poured in 13 points.
 
Armon Benford led DSU with eight assists and no turnovers from the point guard position.
 

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GAME NOTES
 
This was the 97th all-time meeting between the two schools with Delta State holding a 58-37-1 edge in the series.
 

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NEXT UP
 
The Choctaws will close out the 2018 portion of their schedule on Monday night when they host Christian Brothers at 7:30 p.m. in A.E. Wood Coliseum.
 

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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 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.