Choctaws Win 2nd Straight Contest
The Mississippi College men’s basketball team scored their most points since February 9, 2014 as they downed Southern University at New Orleans, 107-89, on Monday night in A.E. Wood Coliseum.
The Choctaws won their second straight contest to improve to 2-2, while the Knights dropped to 1-4.
TURNING POINT
– With 8:23 remaining in the game, SUNO cut what was once a 19-point lead down to just six as George Brock hit one of his eight three-pointers on the night. The Choctaws would answer with an 8-0 run and pull away with their second win of the season against the Knights after winning last Tuesday in New Orleans, 77-60.
HOW IT HAPPENED
– The Choctaws never trailed in the contest, grabbing as much as a 19-point lead with 7:36 to go in the first half after a three-pointer by senior Antonio Johnson, making the score 35-16.
– The Knights would claw back into the game, converting a four-point play in the final seconds of the period to send the game into halftime with a score of 46-36.
– In the second half, SUNO, led by 47 points from Brock, would cut the score as few as four points at 64-60 with 13:41 remaining.
– After a 14-3 run by the Choctaws, the Knights would again cut into the lead and a three-pointer by Brock made the score 78-72 with 8:23 to go.
– The Choctaws would pull away down the stretch, and the punctuation mark came on an alley-oop with 3:04 remaining from junior Donovan Ham to senoir Stacey Mack, who scored a career-high 29 points. The three-point play gave the Choctaws their largest lead of the night at 100-80.
KEY STATS
– The Choctaws were led by Mack’s career-high 29 points, shooting 8-of-13 from the floor and 12-of-12 from the free throw line.
– Junior Isaiah Austin, who earned his first career start, put up a double-double with 20 points and 12 rebounds.
– Senior Antonio Johnson hit 6-of-11 three-pointers for the Choctaws, scoring 21 points with seven assists.
– Ham scored 19 points with nine rebounds and eight assists, shooting 7-of-1 from the field.
– The Choctaws shot 58% (35-of-60) from the floor and 46% (12-of-26) from the three-point line.
– They outrebounded the Knights 44-28, including pulling down 15 offensive boards for 18 second-chance points.
– The Choctaws had 23 assists on 35 buckets, while the Knights had nine assists on 30 field goals.
– Brock led all scorers with 47 points, going 15-of-21 from the field and 8-of-10 from the three-point line.
– Andre Funches was the only other Knight in double-figures with 10 points.
– SUNO shot 46% (30-of-65) from the floor and 54% (14-of-26) from long range.
GAME NOTES
– The 107 points was the most for the Choctaws since scoring 110 against Sul Ross State on January 9, 2014.
– MC put up a season-high 106 points against West Georgia in a victory in Carrollton last season.
NEXT UP
– The Choctaws will be off for Thanksgiving, coming back on the court Sunday when they travel to Birmingham to face UAB at 3:00 p.m.
