MONTEVALLO, Ala. --- The Mississippi College basketball team cut a 17-point second half deficit down to four in the final minutes but could not come all the way back in a 80-69 loss at Montevallo on Thursday night in Trustmark Arena.
The Choctaws dropped to 9-12 with a 6-10 Gulf South Conference mark, while the Falcons improved to 14-11 and 9-7 in league play.
TURNING POINT
- The Choctaws trailed by a game-high 17 points with 10:18 remaining (61-44), but after chipping away, they would cut the score to 68-64 with 3:55 remaining on a pair of free throws by junior
Donovan Ham. The Falcons responded with a 12-3 run down the stretch to stop the rally and hold on for the win.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Sophomore
Brandon Boston got the scoring going in the game by nailing a jumper on an assist by senior
Otis Harvey.
- The Falcons scored the next 12 points and would not trail the rest of the night.
- The Choctaws would hang in and go on an 8-1 run over the final minutes of the first half to cut the lead to 34-25 at the break.
- The run was capped by the first three-point attempt and make by Boston at the buzzer.
- Montevallo would keep MC at arm's distance in the second half and grow the lead to as many as 17 with just over 10 minutes remaining.
- MC would use a 9-0 run over a three-minute span, highlighted by seven points and an assist from Ham.
- The Falcons would hold off the late rally and clinch a series sweep of the Choctaws this season.
KEY STATS
- Ham scored a team-high 20 points, while Boston tallied a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds on the night, including two three-pointers.
- The Choctaws shot 50% (15-of-30) from the floor in the second half, bouncing back from a first half that saw them go just 9-of-27 (33%).
- Senior
Xavion Dillon also scored in double-figures with 15 points to go along with eight rebounds.
- Montevallo outrebounded MC 38-29 and scored 22 points of 19 Choctaw turnovers.
- Chris Williams led five Falcons in double-figures with 19 points.
NEXT UP
- The Choctaws will be back on the road this Saturday when they face West Alabama in Livingston at 4:00 p.m.
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.
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