MEMPHIS-The Christian Brothers University Bucs dug out of a 10-point first-half deficit as they rallied for a 92-86 win over Mississippi College Thursday night at Canale Arena.

HOW IT HAPPENED:
• The Choctaws (5-18, 2-17 GSC) used a 17-4 run to take a 17-7 lead on an Otis Harvey triple with 11:16 remaining in the first half..
• CBU (15-10, 12-7) used a 16-2 run to regain a 28-23 lead when Adam Dieball (Cincinnati, Ohio/Lakota East HS) found Alex Trentman (Alexandria, Ky./Bishop Brossart HS) for a backdoor layup with 4:52 remaining in the first half.
• The Bucs took the lead for good with a 15-1 run sandwiching the intermission. Brad Miller (Cincinnati, Ohio/Elder HS) and Joe Laravie (Kettering, Ohio/Alter HS) knocked down back-to-back three-pointers in the final minute of the first half. When When Miller capped the explosion with his fourth three-pointer of the game, the Bucs led 48-34 with 18:39 remaining.
• MC used a 10-3 burst to cut the CBU lead to 51-44 on a Byron McCall dunk with 15:46 remaining. From there, the CBU lead remained between four and 12 points the rest of the game.
• The Choctaws came within four points three times in the final six minutes. First at 73-66, when Miller answered with a three. Then at 73-69, when Laravie answered with two free throws and a three, and finally at 90-86 with 20 seconds remaining when Laravie sank two free throws to set the final margin.

KEY STATS:
• Laravie scored 22 points wth five rebounds and three assists. He finished 6-of-10 from the floor, including 2-of-6 from three-point range, and he made all eight free throws.
• Miller scored 21 with two steals, finishing 7-of-9 from the floor including 6-of-7 from three-point range.
• Larkin scored 18 with five assists.
• Alex Trentman (Alexandria, Ky./Bishop Brossart HS) added 16 points with seven rebounds.
• Dieball scored eight points but dished out nine assists.
• The Bucs shot 54.5 percent (30-of-55) from the floor, including 44.8 percent (13-of-29) from beyond the arc. MC shot 51.7 percent (31-of-60) for the game, including 60 percent (6-of-10) from three-point rang.e
• The Choctaws out-rebounded CBU 38-21, including a 13-3 edge in offensive boards. MC committed nine turnovers to the Bucs' five.

HEAD COACH MIKE NIENABER'S THOUGHTS:
"We couldn't stop them. So that was troubling, but we were able to score enough ourselves. Brad came in there and hit some big threes later in the first half. We all got off to a slow start shooting and got down 10. To go into the locker room at halftime with a six-point lead was major. The first 12, 14 minutes of the first half was as ugly as it gets. They were killing us on the offensive boards. Early in the game we were getting stops but we couldn't get the rebound. That continued somewhat, but we won."

On Joe Laravie's big game:
"Joe has kind of disappeared a little bit, and I've been frustrated by that. But I told him, when you get your open shots, you take them. He missed a couple early, but he got that big one at the end of the first half, and he made me look smart."

"Jeff made a great read on that play. Jeff has a tendency to go all the way on those plays and force it. I think so many times, he can create shots like that. He made the right decision, got Joe that wide open three and got us that six-point lead at halftime, that was big."

On the backdoor cuts:
"As we get more relaxed with it, we're going to get more of those. And that loosens other things. Once you get those, people start backing off, and then you get better threes."

On the GSC Tournament Picture:
We need that first conference game at home. Because that game could be an NCAA play-in game. If we finish third or fourth, we're going to be playing Shorter or West Florida probably. With those two teams regionally ranked, we can't lose to them. So that's going to be an NCAA play-in game probably. We don't want to have to get on a bus. Pensacola's a long way. My body is not made for the beach. I don't care if I ever see the beach again. We need to be playing here the last night of February. 

GSC TOURNAMENT PICTURE:
Valdosta State moved into first place at 16-3, followed by Alabama Huntsville (15-4) and Delta State (14-5). CBU sits in a tie with West Florida for fourth place at 12-7, and Shorter has also clinched a berth at 10-9. North Alabama and Union are tied for seventh at 8-11, followed by Lee and West Georgia in a tie for ninth at 6-13.

WHAT'S NEXT:
The Bucs hit the road for the final time this season Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. when they visit Delta State. Their next home game is Thursday night at 7 p.m. as they host No. 19 Alabama Huntsville.