CLINTON, Miss. — Coming out of the holiday break, the Mississippi College Choctaws looked to improve their season against the Delta State Statesmen. In a game that started very strong, MC would drop the contest on turnovers and other missed opportunities by a final score of 80-63.

In the first half, the Choctaws jumped out in front of the Statesmen early on a run of 8-0 behind baskets from Justin Reid and Galen Smith before giving up any opposing points and led 8-3 at the 15:25 mark.

Delta State responded with a run of 9-4, but a quick basket by Tradavis Thompson pushed the lead to 16-12 with 11:20 remaining in the first half of action. 

The two teams exchanged baskets back and forth the next few minutes to a 24-24 deadlock at the following media timeout, but a 7-2 run gave the Statesmen a 31-26 advantage with 3:16 before the break. 

The final minutes of the half saw baskets from Smith and Bee McCrary, but two three-pointers had DSU ahead 37-30 heading to the locker room.

Coming out of the locker room, DSU continued their pursuit with more baskets while Smith kept MC within striking distance, trailing 48-38 with 14:17 remaining. 

The Choctaws continued to struggle down the stretch trailing 62-47 with 7:32 remaining in the contest. The final minutes of the evening ended with MC on the back end of a 17-point event.

The Choctaws were led by Galen Smith with 26 points, 14 rebounds while also getting a double digit effort from Tradavis Thompson who tallied 13 points on the night. MC now holds an overall record of 8-6 and 5-6 in GSC play.