Clinton, Miss. – The Union University men's basketball team defeated the Choctaws of Mississippi College 71-69 on the road Saturday afternoon. Union improved to 10-2 on the season and 4-0 in the Gulf South Conference. Mississippi College dropped to 3-7 overall and 1-3 in league play.
Union is ranked No. 25 in the NABC Coaches' Poll and 21 in the D2SIDA Media Poll.
Union scored first when
Boe Nguidjol knocked down a mid-range jumper. Mississippi College would answer back and go on a 6-0 run taking the lead. Both teams would then go back and forth sharing the lead. Toward the end of the first half, Union would go on a 11-2 run taking an eight-point lead. The first half would end with Union on top 33-26.
Mississippi College kept chipping away at the deficit in the second half and managed to tie the game up at 54-54 in the 12th minute of the second half. Mississippi College would then quickly take the lead in the 14th minuet when they pulled ahead 56-55 with a jumper from Galen Smith.
Tyree Boykin would take the lead for the Bulldogs when he knocked down two free-throws in the 15th minute of the second half. Mississippi College would then go ahead and take the lead right back with only two minutes to play.
Jeremiah Littlepage would even the score at 66-66 with two clutch free-throws. With only 19 seconds to play, Boykin would put the Bulldogs up by three when he found the bottom of the net from beyond the arc. Union would hold onto the lead with the final score being 71-68.
Union was led by
Boe Nguidjol with 18 points and 11 rebounds.
Jeremiah Littlepage would add 17 points of his own, and
Tyree Boykin would add 15. The Bulldogs shot 44 percent (24-54) from the field, 38 percent (6-16) from beyond the arch, and 77 percent (17-22) from the charity stripe.
The Choctaws were led by Galen Smith with 30 points and 10 rebounds. Lamont Berzat would add 12 points and 6 rebounds of his own. Mississippi College shot 39 percent (22-66) from the field, 25 percent (5-20) from beyond the arc, and 61 percent (11-18) from the free-throw line.
Up next for Union is a conference matchup on the road against the Statesmen of Delta State University. This game is set to take place Monday, December 20 at 7:30 p.m.
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