CLINTON, Miss. – Mississippi College rallied in the second half after trailing by as many as 14 points in the first to defeat West Alabama 69-57 in Gulf South Conference Men's Basketball action at A.E. Wood Coliseum on Saturday.

Mississippi College snaps a two game losing skid to improve to 6-9 overall and 5-8 in the GSC.  The game wraps up a five game road stretch for West Alabama, who drops to 10-9 and 6-7.

"We can't make excuses or complain about officiating, tonight just tells me that they were more aggressive in the paint," said UWA head coach Allen Sharpe. "We didn't attack in the paint or rebound offensively like we should have. We just had no answer for their guys in the paint. We lost some of our intensity towards the end of the first half and it just continued into the second."

UWA's defense held the Choctaws to only six points through the opening 10 minutes, while taking its largest lead of the half at 20-6. The Tigers were 12-of-27 from the field in the period, including 6-of-14 behind the 3-point line. Despite a late surge by MC which included the Choctaws scoring five of its eight field goals in the final eight minutes, West Alabama clung to a 31-25 lead at halftime.  

Six minutes into the second half, Mississippi College claimed its first lead of the game by going up 40-38. The Choctaws improved from shooting 8-of-19 in the first half to 11-of-23 in the second and overcame four more lead changes to secure victory. UWA hit only eight of its 23 field goal attempts in the second half, falling to 4-of-13 shooting from beyond the arc.

UWA turnovers also played into MC's hand in the second half, as nine of its 12 total turnovers fell in the second period.

Acie Vance led the Tigers offense for the second straight game, scoring 16 points; 10 in the second half. He finished 6-of-13 from the field.

Jake Jobling and Billy Ingram led the Tiger's 3-point shooting in the first half, combining for 5-of-8 with Ingram hitting both of his attempts. Jobling totaled 11 points, while Ingram posted six points.

"Our defense has continued to be solid, besides the issues inside tonight," Sharpe said. "Our offensive consistency has been the major issue this season. There's no telling what could happen any given night in this league. We are going to continue to hang with it and find what we're made of."

Dakari Mayo added eight points, while picking up two more blocks to the national leader's total. Marcel Moorer led the Tigers with six rebounds in his second start of the year.

Tory Rice and Johnny Rucker led Mississippi College with 20 points and 18 points respectively. Rice shot 7-of-8 in the field, while Rucker hit 6-of-16 with three 3-pointers.

West Alabama men's hoops returns home to take on in-state conference rival North Alabama on Thursday. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. at Pruitt Hall.