Jamont Gordon scored 10 of his 18 points in the second half as the Mississippi State men’s basketball team closed out the preseason with a 71-64 win over Oklahoma City Saturday night at Humphrey Coliseum.
The Bulldogs extended their exhibition winning streak to nine consecutive games.
“I played pretty well out there, but I still need to play better,” Gordon said. “I had a couple of turnovers, so I need to get better in that area.”
After trailing 35-33 at halftime, the Bulldogs went on a 23-7 run to take a 57-44 lead with 10:22 left.
With 7:22 left in the second period, OCU got within three points after going on a 17-8 run.
However, Gordon scored four crucial points down the stretch to help lead the Bulldogs past OCU.
MSU shot only 39 percent and committed 21 turnovers, while Oklahoma City shot 44 percent and went 17-28 at the free-throw line.
“We knew that they were going to be an exceptional team,” MSU head coach Rick Stansbury said. “The main thing is that we got out of this what we needed out of a game like this.
“It pointed out a lot of things and put us in a late game situation that made us focus a bit. It is something that we can go back and point out now.”
MSU got 12 points from Piotr Stelmach and 10 points from Charles Rhodes. OCU was lead by John Duane’s 19 points.
The Bulldogs will begin regular season play on Saturday, Nov. 11 at home against Nicholls State at 2 p.m.