ITTA BENA, Miss. (February 18, 2019) – Mississippi Valley State men's basketball team (5-23, 3-10) won their second consecutive game defeating the Southern Jaguars, 70-59, in the Harrison HPER Complex on Monday. The Delta Devils led the Jaguars the entire way behind senior Dante Scott's 27 points and Emmanuel Ejeh's game-high 14 rebounds.
MVSU opened the game on a 7-0 run against Southern and maintained their lead for the entire contest. Despite holding on to a four-point lead halfway through the first half, Southern fought back to pull within one at the 6:36 mark. Baskets by senior Gregory Jones-Rollins and sophomore Kaleb Allison seized the four-minute scoring drought for both teams and pushed the Delta Devils to a 20-15 advantage with 2:49 until halftime.
In the final minute, the Delta Devils increased their scoring momentum which gave them their largest lead of the half, 27-17. In the first half, the Delta Devils shot 11-of-27 (40.7 percent) from the field, 3-of-10 (30 percent) from beyond the arc, and 2-of-4 (50 percent) from the free throw line.
MVSU led 29-23 in the second half and then quickly used an 8-2 run to push their lead to double-digits (37-25) after a three-pointer by Scott at the 16:49 mark. Southern pulled within five (39-34) after a three-pointer by DeRias Johnson which shifted the tide in their favor. Points in the paint by Allison and Jones-Rollins followed by Scott's three-point play gave the Delta Devils a 47-36 lead at the halfway point.
Senior Jordan Evans drained a three-pointer to give the Delta Devils a 14-point lead with just under 10-minutes. But over the next five minutes of action, Southern answered with a 10-0 run capitalizing off the Delta Devils inability to score pulling to within five, 50-45. MVSU went to the charity stripe and converted 17-of-22 attempts in the second half and held the Jaguars to only six attempts.
Down the stretch, Scott and junior Torico Simmons combined to make 10-of-14 free throws. Simmons made a pair from the line with 1:02 left in regulation extending the MVSU advantage to 64-54. Defensively, the Delta Devils held the Jaguars to four made three-pointers, three made free throws and only eight free throw attempts. Southern shot 37 percent on free throws and 22 percent from beyond the arc.
MVSU had two players in double-figures led by Scott's 27 points followed with 13 points by Jones-Rollins. Scott made 11-of-12 free throws and 7-of-14 shots from the field. Jones-Rollins was 6-for-12 from the field while Allison scored a conference-high eight points.
Southern's Johnson scored 13 points hitting 4-of-5 three-pointers.
The Delta Devils will begin their final two-game road trip in Texas beginning at Prairie View on February 23
rd at 5 p.m.
Head Coach Andre Payne
On tonight's game…
"This is probably one of the best defensive efforts we've had all year. This game here, we won with our defense. I mean, we had 70 points on the board, but we took them completely out of their offensive scheme, because we took charges. We started off the game with three charges in the first five possessions. The guys followed the defensive scheme to the fullest. If you were watching, whenever they started to set a pick, we jumped in a 2-3, and they didn't know what to do from there. I just give all the thanks to these guys, because they followed the scheme to the max, and that's what got us the victory tonight…"
On the growth of the team since the last meeting with Southern…
"We've been telling this team all year, 'you all are good.' We've had some rocky times, and we're not out the woods yet, but, I know what is possible with this team. I know the capability that we have. The sky is the limit when we play together and play as one unit. Southern shot very well against us when we played them down in Baton Rouge, but we didn't allow that this time. We came out and defended. We made sure they did not get going, and that was the biggest difference in the game…
On what pumped this team up tonight…
"Our backs are against the wall. Simple as that! We know we've got to win in order to get in the tournament. I have not sugar coated it with these guys. We are taking this thing, and are going to deal with it head on. We know that in order to make the tournament, we are going to have to produce victories. I didn't want Sean Woods to come into my house and beat me! They call this the "HOUSE OF PAYNE" now!
Senior Guard Gregory Jones-Rollins
On how it feels to get back-to-back wins…
"It feels good, man! We really wanted to beat Southern, because they came out and blasted us the first game. We knew we were better than them. The showing that we had wasn't what they thought we'd have. That was just a big win."
Senior Guard Donte Scott
On the complete game he played…
"I really just went out there and played hard for my team basically. I tried not to press a lot on offense and just let the game come to me. Getting where I could fit in on offense. I really focused on rebounding, and then my offense just came to me."
