Notables

CLINTON, Miss. – Men's head coach Mike Jones fought back tears Thursday night as he was honored in a pregame ceremony before his final home game at Mississippi College.

More than 2,000 people came out to see the ceremony to honor MC's greatest basketball coach. Mississippi College interim president Lloyd Roberts said a few words in honor of coach Jones and the M-Club awarded him with a plaque recognizing his tremendous accomplishments at Mississippi College.

But as if that was not enough, his Choctaws (20-2) then went out and soundly beat Texas-Dallas in a game that was never in question and avenged an earlier loss this season to the Comets. The win capped off another 20-win season and puts the Choctaws in good position entering the ASC tournament next weekend ranked 2nd in the South Region.

The Choctaws were led by a balanced attack tonight as three players scored in double figures. Seniors Stacey Keyes and Justin Taylor each tallied 14 points while Karlos Fairley added 12 points and five boards.

The Choctaws came out of the gate quickly and led 24-12 with ten minutes to go in the first half. Fairley scored ten of his 12 points in the first half to lead the Chocs to a 40-25 halftime lead. MC shot 60% in the first half on 18-30 shooting.

The second half would be more of the same as the Choctaws put the game out of reach early. Keyes made a quick thre pointer to oppen the half and followed that with a three-point play on the next possession. With ten minutes to play the score was 60-35 and the comets would get no closer than 16 points. For the game the Chocs shot 57% from the floor to continue their hot shooting in the past few weeks. The Chocs also outrebounded the Comets 28-21.

The Comets were led in scoring by Eric Chatham with 15 points while Brian Thomas scored ten points. The loss drops UT-D to 13-11 on the season.

The win for Coach Jones improves his coaching record at A.E. Wood Coliseum to 164-18. The Choctaws have won 78 of the last 82 ballgames in the Golden Dome.