CLARKSVILLE, AR - The Mississippi College men's basketball team moved into a tie for the fourth and final playoff spot in the American Southwest Conference East Division with an 86-83 victory over Ozarks on Saturday afternoon at the Mabee Center.

The Choctaws (7-14, 6-12 ASC) made nine of 10 free throws in the final two minutes to clinch the victory over the Eagles (8-15, 5-13 ASC).  MC went 21-27 from the free throw line overall.

Ozarks came out strong in the first half, taking their largest lead of the game with 14:43 remaining on a layup by Colby Woolverton to take a 17-8 advantage.

MC would come back and tied the game with 9:40 to go in the half on a jumper by senior Trevon Malone.  Junior Jesse Taylor capped off a 9-0 run with a three-pointer that gave the Choctaws a 30-25 advantage.

The two teams went back and forth the rest of the period with MC taking a 42-41 halftime lead on a layup by sophomore Caleb Vaughan.

MC led by as many as six points and Ozarks led by as many as five points in the second half.  The Choctaws took their largest lead of the game with 1:17 remaining at 80-72.

The Eagles came back and hit three-pointers to cut the lead to just one with :05 seconds remaining, but Taylor made two free throws and a last-ditch effort by Jermery Victory was blocked by Ester to clinch the victory.

Malone led the Choctaws with 21 points and six rebounds, going 8-12 from the floor and 5-6 from the foul line.  All five starters finished in double-figures for MC (Chad Jones-15, Brandon Blake-14, Ester-13, Taylor-13).

The Choctaws shot 60% (30-50) from the floor and hit 5-8 three-pointers.  MC also had a season-high 22 assists in the contest.

Ronnie Dodd led the Eagles with 20 points, while Marcus Bobb had 16 points.  Bryton Flint came off the bench to score 14.

The Choctaws will return home to face Centenary on Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. in the "Golden Dome".