JACKSON - Playing in their lone exhibition game prior to tip-off of the season on Nov. 17, the Millsaps College men's basketball team fell to neighboring Division I Jackson State University, 70-40, at Lee E. Williams Athletics and Assembly Center.

Millsaps trailed just 27-20 at the break, forcing 13 JSU turnovers and holding the Tigers to 1 of 11 shooting from 3-point range, but fell victim to a big JSU second half run that blew the game wide open. Sophomore \#Brian Merkel\# grabbed three of the Majors' six steals in the opening 20 minutes and added four points on 2 of 5 shooting.

An 8-0 run over the opening 3:34 of the second half gave the Majors a 28-27 lead, forcing JSU to burn its first timeout of the half. Millsaps used 3-pointers from senior \#Blake Martinez\# and junior transfer \#LeeVarn Sumler\# and a layup from sophomore \#Ben Cooper\#.

JSU, however, would take over the rest of the way, responding with 15 unanswered points over the next 5:34 as part of an emphatic 24-4 run that gave the home team a 19-point lead, 51-32, with just over 10 minutes to play. Senior guard Garrison Johnson scored eight of his game-high 20 points during the run.

Martinez would finish with a team-high 12 points for Millsaps on 4 of 14 shooting, while senior teammate \#Cameron Varnado\# added seven points and Cooper had six.

The Majors will tip-off the season on Nov. 17 against Belhaven at home.