ABILENE, TX - The Mississippi College men's basketball team fell to 3-4 in American Southwest Conference play with a 77-64 loss to McMurry University in Kimbrell Arena.  McMurry scored 42 points in the paint on their way to the victory.

McMurry grabbed an 8-7 lead with 14:02 remaining in the first half and never relinquished it.  MC would cut the lead to one point at 31-30 with 18:44 to go in the second half, but could never regain the advantage.

The Choctaws were without two of their top 10 players as juniors Chad Jones and Pierre Hadley missed the game.  Jones is nursing an injury, while Hadley remained home to attend to a friend who had passed away.

Junior Greg Pulliam led the Choctaws with 22 points, with most of his damage done at the free throw line, where he knocked down 10-13 foul shots.  Pulliam also paced MC with seven assists.  Senior Ken Black was the only other Choctaw in double-figures with all 14 of his points coming in the second half.

MC struggled shooting from the field, going 21-66 (31.8%) and only making 5-26 (19.2%) from behind the three-point arc.  Couple that with McMurry outrebounding the Choctaws, 47-35, and McMurry ran away with the victory in the second half.

McMurry was led by Derick Sumpter, who came off the bench to play 26 minutes and score 17 points.  Steven Johunkin, a Sul Ross State transfer, poured in 15 points on 7-8 shooting from the floor.  Jaden Isler was the other McMurry player in double-figures with 12 points, while Teddy Chambers finished the night with a team-high 12 rebounds.

The Choctaws will be back in action on Saturday at Hardin-Simmons with the tip-off scheduled for 3:00 p.m.