CLEVELAND, Miss. --- The Mississippi College men's basketball team closed out the 2019 portion of their schedule with a 61-57 loss to Delta State on Saturday afternoon at Sillers Coliseum.
 
The Choctaws fell to 5-5 on the year with a 1-3 mark in the Gulf South Conference, while the Statesmen improved to 5-6 and 1-2 in league play.
 

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HOW IT HAPPENED
  - The Statesmen grabbed the upper hand in the opening minutes of the first half, taking a 15-6 lead with 12:52 remaining on a three-pointer from Airen Brooks to cap an 8-0 run.
  - The Choctaws would respond with a 10-0 run of their own, and an alley-oop dunk from Winford Ross as the shot clock expired gave MC their first lead of the night at 16-15 with 6:25 to go.
  - Keevon Oney nailed a three-pointer with 4:17 remaining to give the Choctaws their largest lead of the first 20 minutes at 21-17.
  - DSU answered with a three-pointer from Keyshaun Street in the final minute to give the game a 25-25 score at the halftime break.
  - The teams traded buckets out of the break, but Delta State would grab a bit of control with 13:37 remaining as Airen Brooks scored to give the Statesmen their largest lead of the half at 41-33.
  - The Choctaws answered with six straight points, capped by a pair of free throws from Michael Williams Jr. to make the score 43-41 with 10:58 to go.
  - DSU would extend the lead back out to as many as seven in the final 10 minutes, but the Choctaws again cut the deficit to two at 57-55 with 1:15 remaining after a free throw from Willie Logan.
  - The biggest basket of the game came in the final minute as Savvas Georgiadis nailed a jumper with 58 seconds remaining to keep the Choctaws at a safe distance.
 

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KEY STATS
  - Logan and Oney each led the Choctaws with 13 points apiece, while Ross led the way with 10 rebounds and three blocked shots off the bench.
  - The Choctaws shot 37% (20-of-54) from the floor and went just 2-of-11 from the three-point line.
  - They did, however, outrebound the Statesmen 43-25, including pulling down 16 offensive rebounds and only allowing four offensive boards to DSU.
  - Keyshaun Street led all scorers with 17 points, going 4-of-10 from the three-point line for DSU.
  - Brooks tallied a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds for the Statesmen.
 

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NEXT UP
  - The Choctaws will be back in action in 2020 when they play host to West Georgia on Thursday, January 2nd at 7:30 p.m. in A.E. Wood Coliseum.
 

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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 began 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.