CLEVELAND – Eric Spencer's career-high 26 points powered the Delta State University men's basketball team to an 80-67 victory over the University of West Florida Monday at Walter Sillers Coliseum. Spencer, a junior from Marion, Ark., connected on eight three pointers in the win. The Statesmen improved to 9-3 on the season, while the Argonauts fell to 7-5.

The second half proved to be just as intense as the first, as the Statesmen and Argonauts battled to a 46-40 second half score. The Statesmen opened up their biggest lead of the night, 15 points, at the 18:23 mark of the second half. DSU never looked back after that, despite UWF cutting the lead to eight with just under four minutes to play.

Both teams connected on over 50 percent of their attempts in the second half with DSU hitting on 55.6 percent (15-of-27) and UWF 53.6 percent (15-of-28). The Statesmen were 8-of-13 from three point range in the second half and the Argonauts were not quite, shooting 5-of-11.

The Statesmen and the Argos battled hard for the opening 10 minutes, before the Statesmen broke away for later part of the first half, leading by as many as 13 points with a little over three minutes remaining.

West Florida closed out the half on a 6-0 run, but couldn't cut the deficit by much, as the home team held on for a 34-27 lead at the break.
Each team had 28 attempts for the half; however the Statesmen were solid at the line, shooting 9-of-13 and 39 percent from the floor to take the slight advantage.

Alton Robinson led all scorers at the break with 13 points while Eric Spencer had 11 off the bench, going 3-of-5 from behind the arch.

The Statesmen finished the night shooting 47.3 percent on 26-of-55 attempts. DSU also hit on 11-of-24 three point attempts and 17-of-23 from the foul stripe. UWF shot 48.2 percent on 27-of-56 attempts. The Argonauts were 7-of-19 from three point land and 6-of-11 from the charity stripe.

Spencer led all scorers with 26 points. Alton Robinson added a double-double with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Chad Akins added nine points and nine assists in the win.

The Argonauts were led by Ryan Henry and Charles Bouie, who both scored 13 points on the night.

The Statesmen return to the court Wednesday evening, as Delta State plays host to Concordia-Selma. Game time is set for 7 p.m. at Walter Sillers Coliseum.