CLINTON, Miss. --- The Mississippi College men's basketball team could not overcome a game-opening 13-0 run by West Florida as the Argonauts went on to pick up a 72-59 victory on Saturday afternoon in A.E. Wood Coliseum.

The Choctaws fell to 4-8 on the season with a 1-6 mark in the Gulf South Conference. The Argos improved to 5-11 with a 1-7 mark in the league.
 

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TURNING POINT

- The Argos hit their first five shots of the game and after Rashaan Benson made a three-pointer with 17:07 remaining in the first half, UWF grabbed a 13-0 lead and the Choctaws would get no closer than four the rest of the way.
 

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HOW IT HAPPENED

- After UWF went on the game-opening 13-0 run, the Choctaws got their first bucket of the game with 16:28 remaining when junior Tre Jenkins nailed a three-pointer on an assist from freshman Slate Garmany.
- The Argos would push the advantage out to as many as 15 in the opening minutes, but MC responded with a 10-0 run to make the score 20-15 with a three-pointer from sophomore Dyllan Taylor at the 12:50 mark.
- As the teams traded baskets and the score was 25-20, the Argos scored 11 straight and grabbed their largest lead of the half with a 36-20 advantage and just 7:40 remaining.
- MC turned up the defense and would allow just four points the rest of the half and trail 40-26 at the break.
- In the second half, the Choctaws used a 6-0 run from junior Brandon Boston that would cut the score to 45-37 with 15:45 to go.
- That would be the closest MC would get the rest of the way as the Argos would pull away for their first conference victory of the season.
 

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KEY STATS

- The Choctaws finished the game shooting 35% (23-of-66) from the field, but they were just 10-of-36 (28%) from the floor in the first half as the Argos built up the big lead.
- The MC defense held UWF to just 10-of-27 (37%) shooting in the second half, but the Argos were 10-of-18 from the three-point line for the game.
- Senior Marcus Lytle scored a game-high 20 points, going 8-of-14 from the field and 3-of-3 from the free throw line.
- After going scoreless in the first half, Boston responded with 12 points in the second 20 minutes and led the Choctaws with eight rebounds in the game.
- Jenkins also scored in double-figures with 11 points, going 3-of-8 from the three-point line.
- Jon Brown led the Argo attack with a double-double, scoring 14 points with a game-high 15 rebounds and seven assists.
- Benson led UWF with 17 points, while Jarrett Henderson also tallied a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
 

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NEXT UP

- The Choctaws will hit the road for their next two games as they make a trip to Tennessee to face Christian Brothers (Jan. 17) in Memphis and Union (Jan. 19) in Jackson.
 

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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.