CLEVELAND, Miss. --- The Mississippi College men's basketball team closed out the 2017-18 season with a 79-69 overtime loss at Delta State on Thursday night in Sillers Coliseum.

It was the final contest for seniors Ricky Breakfield, Xavion Dillon, Otis Harvey and Antonio Johnson.
 

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TURNING POINT
- The Choctaws (9-16, 6-14 GSC) would erase a 14-point deficit and hold a 67-65 lead with :12 seconds remaining, but the Statesmen (13-15, 11-9 GSC) rebounded a missed free throw and Matthew Wilson hit a shot in the final seconds to send the game to overtime.
 

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HOW IT HAPPENED
- Junior Donovan Ham scored the first basket of the game, a three-pointer with 17:55 to go in the first half.
- DSU would score the next 11 points and push the lead out to as many as 14 in the first half at 25-11 with 7:56 to go in the first period.
- The Choctaws would close out the first half on a 21-8 run and would trail just 33-32 at the halftime break.
- In the second half, senior Xavion Dillon and sophomore Brandon Boston took over the game, combining to score 44 points and go 18-of-32 from the floor.
- DSU would push the lead out to as many as five in the second half, but when Dillon converted a three-point play with 7:21 remaining, MC took a 54-53 lead.
- Boston would score eight straight points in the final minutes and his jumper with 1:17 remaining gave the Choctaws a 64-62 lead.
- The Statesmen would respond on their next possession with a three-pointer by Matt Wilson, and DSU took a 65-64 lead with 1:00 to go.
- MC's next trip down the court found the ball in the hands of senior Antonio Johnson, who hit a three-pointer from the corner with :41 seconds to go and give the Choctaws a 67-65 lead.
- The Statesmen missed an attempt to tie the game on their next possession, and Boston came down with the rebound and was fouled with :12.7 to go.
- He would miss the front end of the one-and-one opportunity, and DSU went down the floor, finishing with Wilson's game-tying jumper.
- Senior Otis Harvey had a look from long range as time expired, but it was just off the mark and the game went into overtime.
- In the extra period, the Statesmen scored the first six points and held MC to just two over five minutes to hold on for the win.
 

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KEY STATS
- The Choctaws shot 43% from the floor, including going 15-of-30 in the second half to make a game of it.
- MC turned the ball over just eight times with DSU taking advantage for 18 points off the takeaways.
- Boston scored 24 points, going 9-of-17 from the field and 6-of-7 from the free throw line.
- Dillon tallied a double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds, hitting 9-of-15 shots.
- Ham was also in double-figures with 12 points and led the team with five assists.
- Johnson scored six points, going 2-of-5 from the three-point line to finish 2nd in school history with 153 three-point makes and 395 three-point attempts.
- Brett Warner led the Statesmen with 29 points, while PJ Davis had 16 and Wilson had 15.
 

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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.