CLEVELAND – Dmitry Pirshin's steal with 12 seconds left helped quell a West Alabama rally and lifted Delta State to a 72-67 win Monday in the Statesmen's home opener.

The Tigers had all but erased Delta State's eight-point lead in the last three minutes and pulled to within one in the final 30 seconds thanks to a pair of three-pointers by Alquan Mendenhall. Jeremie Davis (Arcadia, La./Univ. of New Orleans) put the Statesmen back up by three at 70-67 with two free throws at the 15-second mark.

West Alabama attempted another quick inbounds, but this time the pass was stolen by Pirshin (Moscow, Russia/Gulf Coast CC), who flipped the ball to Chad Akins (Madison, Miss./Madison Central HS) who then fed Roderick Ollie (Indianola, Miss./UAB) for an easy layup.

Ollie led the No. 23 Statesmen (2-1) with 18 points. Davis and Marqueys Brown (Memphis, Tenn./Crichton College) added 12 points apiece. Pirshin and Eric Spencer (Marion, Ark./Arkansas-Fort Smith) each added eight points.

Akins handed out 10 assists in his first game of the season after missing Delta State's first two contests with an injury.

Pirshin and Ollie both recorded three steals apiece.

The Statesmen shot 45 percent from the floor for the game (24-of-53), but were able to keep the Tigers at bay by shooting 50 percent (12-of-24) from the field during the second half.

Neither team shot free throws particularly well. Delta State sank only 64 percent (16-of-25) of their charity shots, though Davis was 5-of-6 from the free throw line in the final 45 seconds of the contest. West Alabama was an ice-cold 4-of-10 (40 percent) from the line.

Mendenhall led West Alabama (3-1) with 23 points. Chris Davis and Brian Murphy both scored 11 points for the Tigers.

Delta State led 38-33 at halftime.

The Statesmen return to action Saturday when they host Alabama-Huntsville. The game is scheduled for a 6 p.m. tipoff at the conclusion of the women's matchup between the two teams.