LIVINGSTON, Ala. --- The Mississippi College men's basketball team made a second-half charge, but West Alabama pulled away for an 87-64 win on Saturday afternoon in Pruitt Hall.

The Choctaws fell to 9-13 with a 6-11 mark in Gulf South Conference play, while the Tigers improved to 19-6 and 13-4 in league play.
 

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TURNING POINT
- In the second half, a layup by senior Xavion Dillon with 14:03 remaining capped a 6-0 run for MC and cut what was once a 19-point lead down to 53-45. The Tigers, however, responded with a 5-0 run and would not lead by less than 10 points the rest of the way.
 

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HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Tigers jumped out to a quick 7-2 lead in the opening minutes, but the Choctaws would score four straight on jumpers by sophomore Brandon Boston and Dillon to make the lead just 7-6 with 16:58 to go.
- West Alabama scored the next seven points and would push the advantage out to 34-15 with 10:15 to go, their largest lead of the first half.
- MC would get the lead back to 11 in the first 20 minutes, but UWA pushed it back out to 49-32 at halftime.
- The second half opened with junior Donovan Ham scoring five straight points for MC and cutting the score to 49-37 with 18:45 to go.
- Trailing by 14, the Choctaws would then use a 6-0 run to get the lead to single-digits for the first time since early in the first half, making the score 53-45 with 14:03 to go.
- MC would keep UWA within shouting distance until the Tigers used a 7-0 run late to put the game away.
 

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KEY STATS
- The Choctaws shot just 34% (22-of-65) from the floor and went just 4-of-19 (21%) from the three-point line.
- MC would, however, outrebound the athletic Tigers, pulling down 44 boards to 42 foro UWA.
- Dillon led the Choctaws with 18 points, nine rebounds and three assists in the contest.
- Ham (14) and freshman Dyllan Taylor (11) were also in double-figure scoring, while Taylor set a new career-high.
- Charles Eaton, the league's leading scorer, put up a game-high 26 for UWA, going 8-of-19 from the field and 9-11 from the foul line.
- He tallied a double-double with 15 rebounds in the game.
- Josh Fleming (17) and DeAndre Harper (15) also scored in double-figures for the Tigers, who shot 47% (29-of-62) from the field.
 

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NEXT UP
- The Choctaws will play their final home game of the season on Wednesday night when they host West Florida at 7:30 p.m. in A.E. Wood Coliseum. It will also be "Senior Night", and the program will celebrate the final home games for five MC seniors (Ricky Breakfield, Xavion Dillon, Otis Harvey, Antonio Johnson and Stacey Mack).
 

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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.