Starkville, Miss. - The Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils basketball team’s incredible season came to an end tonight as the Delta Devils suffered an 82-63 loss to the Bulldogs of Mississippi State in the opening round of the 2007 MasterCard National Invitational Tournament.
It was a historic night for the Delta Devils, champions of the Southwestern Athletic conference, as they made their first ever NIT appearance. However, it would not be Valley’s night as they fell behind early and trailed 40-24 at the half.
The second half would see Valley settle down and fight their way back into the game closing to within eleven at 40-29 at the 18:30 mark.
But the top seeded Bulldogs weathered the storm and began to pull away and never looked back as they cruised into victory.
Valley was led by junior guard Carl Lucas who turned in a game high 22 points with four rebounds and three steals. Senior guard Tychicus Snow added eight points and three steals.
The Bulldogs were led by Charles Rhodes and Jamont Gordon. Rhodes poured in 21 points with four rebounds and four blocked shots, while Gordon turned in 18 points, nine rebounds and eight assists. Ben Hansbroug came off of the bench to add 15 points.
