ITTA BENA, Miss. (March 02, 2019) – With just three games left in the regular season, Mississippi Valley State men's basketball (6-24, 4-12 SWAC) kept their tournament hopes alive with a 60-57 victory against Jackson State Saturday evening in the Harrison HPER Complex. Senior Jordan Evans finished with a game-high 22 points leading three Delta Devils in double-figure scoring. Evans recorded his seventh 20+ point game of the season and his 18^th double-digit scoring performance.
 
Picking up their third win in their last five games the Delta Devils are still in the running for a spot in the upcoming SWAC Men's Basketball Tournament. Evans recorded a season-high nine rebounds while senior Emmanuel Ejeh notched 10 points hitting his first three-pointer of the season and had nine rebounds. Senior Dante Scott played the entire 40-minutes and made a pair of three-pointers finishing with 10 points.
 
Junior Torico Simmons led the bench scoring with eight points and two assists. The Delta Devils shot 21-of 54 (38.9 percent) from the field, 6-of-14 (42.9 percent) from beyond the arc, and 12-of-19 (63.2 percent) from the free throw line.
 
MVSU jumped to their largest lead of the second half, 50-42 with 7:50 left after freshman Patrick Rucker drained a three-pointer. Jackson State (10-18, 7-8 SWAC) continued to gnaw at the Delta Devils and eventually tied the game at 54 with 2:27 left to play in regulation. Given three-second chance opportunities, Evans connected on a tip-in and then made two free throws giving the Delta Devils a 58-56 lead with 41.3 seconds remaining.
 
On the next possession for the Tigers, they drew a foul that could have tied the game yet again, but Venjia Wallis split the attempts and trailed MVSU with 15-seconds on the clock. The Delta Devils went on to win the game (60-57) after Ejeh drained two free throws with 14.1 seconds on the clock and a game-tying three-point attempt failed for the Tigers.
 
Walls led JSU with 15 points and eight rebounds, while Jontrell Walker added 14 points off their bench.
 
Up next for MVSU is a Monday evening matchup at home against Grambling State at 7:30 p.m. CT.
 
Postgame Presser
Head Coach Andre Payne
On tonight's game…
"Well, I'm proud of my guys, because they played so hard. They followed the game plan to the max. When they swayed off course, they got right back on course, and that's why I'm so proud of them. They laid it all out on the floor. They had to play big-time minutes tonight. They didn't waver, they just kept fighting. Even when Jackson State came back and took the lead, they didn't panic. We came right back out there and did what we needed to do to recapture the lead.
 
Senior Guard Jordan Evans
On being one rebound away from a double-double…
"I just wanted to come out and play aggressively on both sides. I really want to get in the tournament, I've got to run the extra mile, get extra rebounds, and do extra stuff I normally don't do to help the rest of my team.
 
Senior Center Emmanuel Ejeh
On hitting a big-time 3 pointer…
"Coach said to ice the screen, so I can pop out. Then, when I popped, I was wide open, and just had to let it go… I had to shoot it because I was in the right spot. I just shot it with confidence, and it went in.
 
Head Coach Andre Payne
On outrebounding Jackson State…
"Well, that's not an easy job to do… Jackson State is probably one of the best rebounding teams in the conference. We worked all week long. All we talked about was shutting down the drive and rebounding. We knew what we had to do in order to be successful. Those guys attack the glass relentlessly, and you have to be sure you don't give them second and third opportunities. That's what they live for…"