MONTEVALLO, Ala. – Montevallo men's basketball swept Mississippi College in the season series after an 83-77 win over the Choctaws on Thursday night.
 
MC jumped out to a 6-2 lead in the first two minutes with a pair of threes before Derek Moore finished with authority to cut the lead down to two. The Choctaws extended their lead to 11-6 before Brandon Fussell finished a step-through with the left hand to bring the Falcons back within one possession. Freshman forward Luke Smith's first bucket of the game tied the two sides at 13 apiece. With 9:05 left in the half, Moore knocked down a pair of free throws to give Montevallo its first lead of the night at 20-19. Over the next four minutes, Montevallo would go on an 11-0 run to go up 26-19 before MC used a quick 5-0 spurt to bring the game back to a two-point Montevallo advantage. With just 2:08 left in the half, Fussell made his first three of the night to give Montevallo a 33-27 lead that would be cut to 35-31 with trips to the line ahead of the break.
 
Out of the half, Moore found a cutting Fussell at the 17:02 mark to keep the Falcons out in front. Mississippi College would regain the lead with 14:28 to play with a corner three. Smith's second three of the night ended a two-minute drought for UM before Max Gardner's old-fashioned three-point play put the Falcons up by three with 12:14 left. A few possessions later, Curry found space and slammed it home to break a 51-51 tie. MC regained control at 54-53 with yet another three before an 8-0 UM run with six points from Moore gave Montevallo a 61-54 lead with 7:38 left. Montevallo pushed its lead to eight with a Camden Andrews lay-in at the 6:35 mark. With 4:14 on the clock, Moore tallied his third and-one of the evening to keep the Falcons on top, 70-62. Curry extended Montevallo's lead to 11 with an acrobatic finish with less than two minutes to play. The Falcons kept MC at bay down the stretch to earn an 83-77 conference victory.
 
GAME INFORMATION
Score: Montevallo 83 | Mississippi College 77
Records: Montevallo 13-7 (9-5 GSC) | Mississippi College 7-15 (3-11 GSC)
Location: Central State Bank Arena | Montevallo, Ala.
 
GAME NOTES

• Montevallo recovered from a recent shooting slump shooting 50.9-percent from the floor while going 23-31 at the free-throw line.
• The Falcons cleaned up the glass with a 39-19 advantage in rebounding with Montevallo taking 15 offensive rebounds.
• Montevallo dominated the paint, outscoring MC 48-16 inside while MC beat the Falcons from range with 12 triples to Montevallo's four.
• Derek Moore set a career-high with 29 points on 10-of-14 shooting to go along with 10 rebounds for his third double-double of the season.
• Jaylen Curry and Brandon Fussell each added 15 points while Max Gardner set a UM career-high with 10 points.

 
UP NEXT: Montevallo hosts MC's counterpart Delta State at 4 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 1.