CLINTON — The Mississippi College men’s basketball team scored 50 second-half points in a 72-67 victory over Union University on Saturday afternoon at A.E. Wood Coliseum.

The Choctaws (8-9, 6-9 GSC) went 16-of-30 (53%) from the field and 14-of-20 (80%) from the free throw line to erase a 27-22 halftime lead held by the Bulldogs (15-6, 9-6 GSC). MC made a 37-point turnaround against Union after falling to the Bulldogs up in Jackson on December 11th, 97-65.

Junior Tory Rice tallied his 10th double-double of the season with 24 points and 14 rebounds, shooting 7-of-12 from the field and 10-of-11 from the free throw line. Freshman Stacey Mack recorded his first career double-double with 13 points, 11 rebounds, three assists, two blocked shots and one steal.

Union took their largest lead of the game at 25-16 with 3:27 remaining in the first half on a three-pointer by Ashanti Day, who finished the game with a double-double, scoring 15 points with 10 rebounds.

After trailing by five at the half, the Choctaws scored the first eight points of the second stanza, capped off by one of four three-pointers by senior Jaron Edwards, who scored 12 points with four assists and four rebounds.

The Bulldogs would tie it up on the next possession, but the Choctaws pushed the lead out to 43-35 with 12:47 remaining on a three-point play by Mack.Union used a 10-2 run to tie the game with just over 10 minutes remaining.

Neither team led by more than three points until Rice gave MC a 67-62 lead with 1:26 remaining on a layup and a free throw. The Bulldogs cut the score to three, but Mack nailed two free throws to ice the game and snap a four-game losing streak.

Senior Emmanuel Ezejiofo scored nine points with four rebounds, a career-high three blocked shots and two assists. Senior Jay Case opened the game with a three-pointer, marking 451 straight contests that MC has made a long ball, dating back to March 5, 1998.

The Bulldogs were led by Corieon Pearson with 16 points, while Day at 15 and Marterrace Brock had 14. Union, who went 18-of-30 from the three-point line in the season’s earlier meeting, were just 7-of-20 from long range on Saturday.

The Choctaws will be back in action on Thursday night when they travel to face Valdosta State at 7:00 pm (Central).

BY Choctaw Media Relations