CLEVELAND, Tenn. --- The Mississippi College men's basketball team nearly erased a 16-point first half deficit before falling 70-64 to Lee University on Thursday night in Paul Dana Walker Arena.

The Choctaws fell to 7-10 on the season with a 3-8 Gulf South Conference mark, while the Flames improved to 14-4 with a 9-2 league record.
 

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HOW IT HAPPENED
  - Both teams struggled offensively in the early going as the Choctaws held a 5-4 advantage at the first media timeout, just over four minutes into the contetst.
  - The Flames, however, used a 15-1 run to grab a 19-6 advantage on a jumper by Kentrell Evans with 6:57 remaining in the half.
  - Lee took their largest lead of the night at 25-9 with 3:50 remaining after a bucket from Josh Lowe.
  - The Choctaws would respond with a 10-2 run over the final four minutes to cut the score to 27-19 at the halftime break.
  - The Flames kept MC at a safe distance over the first 10 minutes of the second half, pushing the score out to 49-36 with 11:04 remaining.
  - The Choctaws would start to chip away, and when Ken Lewis hit a three-pointer with 7:51 to go, the deficit was cut to 52-46.
  - Winceton Edwards, who scored a season-high 27 points, even cut the lead down to 59-55 with 2:56 remaining.
  - Trailing just 61-57 with under two minutes to go, the deciding possession came when Lee hit 1-of-2 free throws and got the offensive rebound, leading to a three-pointer by Quay Kennedy to push the advantage to 65-57 with 1:07 remaining.
  - The Choctaws would cut the score back to a six-point deficit in the final minute on a couple of occasions, but the Flames held on for the victory.
 

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KEY STATS
  - The Choctaws got off to a miserable shooting start from the field, going just 2-of-21 (10%) in the opening minutes.
  - However, the rest of the way, the Choctaws would get back into the game by shooting 20-of-43 (47%) from the floor.
  - Edwards went 10-of-21 from the field and 3-of-10 from the three-point line as he led all scorers with 27 points.
  - Lewis had a season-high 14 points after scoring just 31 through his first 12 games this season.
  - He went a perfect 5-of-5 from the floor and tallied five of MC's season-high 15 steals in the contest.
  - Winford Ross pulled down a season-high 10 rebounds and blocked three more shots.
  - The Flames shot 45% (25-of-56) from the field, but MC held them to just 4-of-19 (21%) from three-point range.
  - Four players scored in double-figures, led by 16 from Ryan Montgomery, who averages over 20 per game.
  - Lowe had a team-high nine rebounds to go with 12 points and six blocked shots.
 

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NEXT UP
  - The Choctaws will be back at it on Saturday when they travel to Huntsville to face UAH at 4:00 p.m.
 

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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.