Please note that this post contains affiliate links and any sales made through such links will reward MageeNews.com a small commission – at no extra cost to you.
The Mississippi College men’s basketball team will face rival Delta State in the 2015-16 season finale on Thursday night in A.E. Wood Coliseum. Tip-off for the Gulf South Conference contest is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
The Choctaws will celebrate “Senior Day” at halftime off the women’s game, honoring six student-athletes playing their final games in Choctaw uniforms. Christian Howard, Jonathan McGee, Tristan Moore, Tory Rice, Christian Robbins andJohnny Rucker will be honored during the ceremony.
This will be the 91st all-time meeting between the two schools with Delta State holding a 53-36-1 edge in the series. The Choctaws are 23-17 all-time in Clinton with the last win coming on February 24, 1996 (50-49).
The two teams met in Cleveland back on January 16th with Delta State grabbing an 80-53 win. The Statesmen jumped out to a 15-point halftime lead and held MC to 30% shooting on the day. Stacey Mack led the Choctaws with 19 points, while Tory Rice pulled down 16 rebounds. Devin Schmidt led four Statesmen in double-figures, scoring 20 points.
The Choctaws are coming off a tough loss to Shorter on Saturday that saw the Hawks shoot 53% (13-of-25) from the three-point line on the day. MC trailed by as many as 12 in the second half but tied the game at 81-81 with 2:30 remaining. Alijah Bennett nailed a three-pointer in the final seconds to clinch the win for Shorter. Mack led the Choctaws with a season-high 21 points.
MC head coach Don Lofton is in his 12th season with his 200th career victory in sight. Lofton, who has been a part of the program for more than 30 years, has won 196 games as the head man and coached his 300th career game against UWF on December 17th.
Howard (Evergreen, Ala.) has played three years for the Choctaws, seeing action on 44 career games with 69 points and 35 assists. McGee (Raymond, Miss.) has spent his senior season with MC, leading the team with 56 made three-pointers and shooting 40% from behind the arc.
Moore (Senatobia, Miss.) will go down as MC’s all-time leader in assists (4.0) and steals (1.9) per game for a career. He needs seven more assists to become the 10th player in school history to hit 200. Rice (Starkville, Miss.) is MC’s all-time leader with 21 career double-doubles. He has missed the last seven games due to an injury.
Robbins (Columbia, Miss.) tallied his first career start on Saturday against Shorter, scoring a career-high eight points and going 3-for-3 from the field. Rucker (Yazoo City, Miss.) is nine points away from 500 for a career and has scored in double-figures in 28 games over his career.
The Statesmen are led by 4th-year head coach Jim Boone, who recorded his 500th career victory on Saturday against Lee University. He has DSU sitting in the 4th spot in the GSC standing heading into the final weekend. The top four teams in the league host a first-round tournament game on Tuesday, March 1st.
Devin Schmidt (25.3 ppg / 3.6 apg) ranks 2nd in the conference and 4th nationally in scoring this season. The preseason All-American shoots 42% from the floor and is a 79% foul shooter. He has scored in double-figures in every game this season, putting up 30+ points in 10 games, including a 35-point performance on Saturday against Lee.
PJ Davis (10.4 ppg), who is the only other player to average double-figure scoring for DSU, leads the team with 60 blocked shots and ranks 2nd with 6.3 rebounds per game. Jack Madgen (9.7 ppg) is shooting 34% from the three-point line, while James Kilpatrick (6.6 ppg) leads the team with 6.6 rebounds per game.
