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The Mississippi College men’s basketball team saw their late comeback fall just short in a 71-68 loss to West Georgia on Thursday night in A.E. Wood Coliseum.
The Choctaws (5-9, 4-8 GSC) trailed by as many as 12 points in the second half, but a 21-8 run, capped off by couple of free throws from senior Tory Rice, gave MC a 43-42 advantage with 11:24 remaining.
Rice (Starkville, Miss.) led the Choctaws with 17 points and 12 rebounds, notching his 21st career double-double and 7th of the season.
The Gulf South Conference-leading Wolves (12-5, 9-3 GSC) would gain the lead on the next possession, and while the Choctaws would tie the game on two occassions, they never could regain the advantage.
With 22 seconds remaining, UWG’s Deontre Brown knocked down two free throws to push the lead out to 71-65, but sophomore Antonio Johnson (McComb, Miss.) pulled up for a three and cut the lead to just one score.
After the Wolves missed two free throws, MC had the ball, and Johnson’s three as the buzzer went off hit the front of the rim, and UWG was able to skate by with the victory.
The Choctaws (44%) outshot the Wolves (43%) from the floor and went to the line 33 times, West Georgia forced 24 turnovers, scoring 21 points off the giveaways to help pick up the road victory.
After going just 5-of-15 (33%) from the line in the first half, MC cleaned up their act and went 15-of-18 (83%) from the charity stripe over the second 20 minutes.
Senior Johnny Rucker (Yazoo City, Miss.) was also in double-figure scoring with 17 points, while senior Tristan Moore(Senatobia, Miss.) had 16 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals. Sophomore Stacey Mack (McComb, Miss.) tallied 10 rebounds on the night.
Iakeem Alston led UWG with 17 points and seven rebounds, while Brown scored 16 points and Keron Briggs added 11.
The Choctaws will be back at home on Saturday when they host West Alabama at 4:00 p.m. in A.E. Wood Coliseum. MC will go for the season sweep of the Tigers after picking up a 68-65 win in Livingston on December 3rd.
