CLINTON, Miss. --- The Mississippi College men's basketball team trailed by just three at the half, but #14 Valdosta State pulled away for a 95-77 victory over Thursday night in A.E. Wood Coliseum.

The Choctaws fell to 4-7 on the season with a 1-5 Gulf South Conference mark. The Blazers improved to 13-2 with a 6-1 record in the league.
 

---

TURNING POINT

- The Choctaws trailed 44-41 at the break and were behind just 52-47 with 17:53 to go, but the Blazers used a 7-0 run to extend the lead and finished with the road win over MC.
 

---

HOW IT HAPPENED

- The Choctaws came out firing as senior Marcus Lytle and sophomore Dyllan Taylor knocked down a pair of buckets and MC held a 4-0 lead.
- The Blazers would answer with a 9-2 run and would eventually push the lead out to as many as 13 at 42-29 with 4:15 to go in the first 20 minutes.
- MC would respond over the final four minutes and used a 7-0 run to close the half and send the game into the break with a score of 44-41.
- The Choctaws would stay close over the opening minutes of the second half, but VSU would use a pair of 7-0 runs and a couple 6-0 runs to pull away for the 18-point victory.
 

---

KEY STATS

- The Choctaws shot 44% (32-of-73) and went 4-of-12 (33%) from the three-point line, but the Blazers shot 57% (35-of-61) from the floor and went 7-of-21 (33%) from behind the arc.
- MC pulled down 13 offensive rebounds and scored 16 second-chance points.
- The Choctaws also outscored the VSU bench by a count of 22-6.
- The teams were relatively close in the paint with the Blazers holding a 50-44 edge, but VSU scored 16 fast-break points to just one for MC.
- Lytle and Taylor led the Choctaws with 17 points apiece, while senior Isaiah Austin (12) and juniors Scot Hundt (11) and Brandon Boston (10) also scored in double-figures.
- Austin had a team-high eight rebounds, while Taylor led the way with four assists.
- Clay Guillozet led all scorers with 29 points, while Bryce Smith poured in 22.
- Winston Morgan scored 13 with a team-high nine assists, while Beau Justice scored 19.
 

---

NEXT UP

- The Choctaws will be back in action on Saturday afternoon when they will host West Florida at 4:00 p.m. in A.E. Wood Coliseum.
 

---

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.