Houston, Texas (February 25, 2019) – Despite four double-figure scorers in their final road action of the season, Mississippi Valley State men's basketball team (5-24, 3-12) fell 92-80 to Texas Southern in Houston Monday night. Senior Jordan Evans finished with 26 points on 9-of-18 shooting from the field, 5-of-9 from beyond the arc, and 3-of-4 from the free throw line while senior Emmanuel Ejeh had his fourth double-double of the season with 13 points and 10 rebounds.

In the first half of the contest, Texas Southern took an early 10-point lead that they held throughout the entire game. By halftime, the Delta Devils trailed the Tigers 48-32 after TSU dominated the interior and a slow offensive start by MVSU. 22 of their first-half points came from the Tigers bench compared to MVSU's 20 points in the paint and 12 bench points, the Delta Devils put up a good fight outscoring TSU 48-44 in the second half.

Evans hit a three-pointer starting the second half sparking a Delta Devils run to trim a 16-point first half deficit. MVSU pulled within six points twice in the second half. The first rally was behind a 6-0 run the Delta Devils went on at the 19:36 mark then again at the 15:48 mark. Texas Southern capitalized on the Delta Devils' offensive slump and extended their advantage to 82-59 at the 07:31 mark, which was their biggest lead of the game.

The Delta Devils never gave up and MVSU tenaciously fought back by chipping away at the TSU lead by two to three points at a time. Evans drained a three-pointer at the 02:37 mark to pull his team within 11-points but the Delta Devils were battling the clock at this point. With 1:08 left in regulation, MVSU trailed TSU 89-77. In the final minute, senior Gregory Jones-Rollins made two free throws and Ejeh gave the crowd a slam dunk to pull the Delta Devils within 11. Yet, MVSU was up against time and fell to the Tigers of Texas Southern 92-80.

On the night, the Delta Devils had four players record double-digits. Evans led the scoring effort with 26 points followed by Ejeh and senior Dante Scott with 13 points each, and junior Michael Green rounded the double-digit scorers out with 10 points. Other scorers included Jones-Rollins with nine points and freshman Patrick Rucker with seven points.

The Delta Devils finished the night shooting 28-of-65 (43.1 percent) from the field, 11-of-27 (40.7 percent) from beyond the arc, and 13-of-23 (56.5 percent) from the free throw line.

Jeremy Combs lead Texas Southern with 23 points and 10 rebounds followed by John Jones with 17.

The Delta Devils will return to the R.W. Harrison Complex to play three home games to conclude the regular season. MVSU will first host in-state rival, Jackson State on Saturday, March 2^nd with a 4:30 p.m. tipoff.