BATON ROUGE – (Men's Basketball) The Delta Devils of Mississippi Valley dominated the court with a dominant defense and phenomenal defense, however they fell short to the Jaguars of Southern University 87-81.

Mississippi Valley took first possession but it was Southern who scored the first basket. Marcus Romain showed a fake before shooting the Delta Devils' second basket, however it bounced off the rim. It was Darrell Riley that closed the deal for the second Mississippi Valley basket.

A jumper by Isaac Williams with 17:14 on the clock placed MVSU within two of the Jags. Despite, Southern scoring to increase the lead, Mississippi Valley's Romain responded with a money shot layup inside the paint to once again close the gap. SU went on a run while holding the Delta Devils to eight points. A free throw by Romain carried the score to 18-9 in favor of the Jaguars. A furious back and fourth ensued that resulted in a 44-36 score going into halftime.

The second half of the contest began with a basket by Southern's Trelun Banks. It was at the 18:35 mark that TaJay Henry scored a layup to increase the Delta Devils' point line. At 8:42 Romain scored to tie the contest at 68-68. Michael Matlock scored on a tipin at 7:35 to move MVSU ahead 70-68. SU responded five-seconds later to knot the contest at 70.

In the final minutes the contest went back and forth, the Jaguars were able to escape with the win.

Mississippi Valley will be back in action on Saturday, January 21 at 4:00 pm, when they host the Panthers of Prairie View A & M University.