CLEVELAND – The Delta State Statesmen shot 56 percent from the field in the second half and scored 45 points after halftime as they cruised to an 83-59 victory over Southern Arkansas on Thursday at Sillers Coliseum.
Roderick Ollie (Indianola, Miss./UAB) totaled a game-high 16 points and Jeremie Davis (Arcadia, La./New Orleans) came off the bench to score 15 as the Statesmen (13-3, 4-0 Gulf South Conference) rolled to their eighth consecutive win.
Channin Hardin scored 16 points to lead Southern Arkansas (7-10, 2-2 GSC).
After a sluggish start to the game, the Statesmen turned on the jets later in the first half, taking their first lead of the game at the 7:58 mark on a 3-pointer by Ollie to claim a 19-18 lead.
The Statesmen outscored their guests 21-10 over the final eight minutes of the first half. Collectively, Delta State shot 52 percent (28-of-54) from the field for the game, while holding the Muleriders to 34 percent (19-of-56) from the field.
A total of four Statesmen players scored in double-figures Thursday, as senior guard Eric Spencer (Marion, Ark./Arkansas-Fort Smith) came off the bench and scored 11 points and grabbed five rebounds.
Chad Akins (Madison, Miss./Madison Central HS) scored 10 points and registered five assists and three steals for the Statesmen.
Marqueys Brown (Memphis, Tenn./Crichton College) scored nine points and electrified the home crowd with several powerful slam dunks in the game.
Dmitry Pirshin (Moscow, Russia/Gulf Coast CC) and Joe McCray (Fort Lauderdale, Fla./Nebraska) scored six points apiece for Delta State. Pirshin also grabbed a game-high seven rebounds for the Statesmen.
Akins moved closer to 500 career assists, as he brought his career total to 491. The senior point guard needs only 59 more to break the Delta State career mark held by Scott Nagy.
Nagy, who played at Delta State from 1985 to 1988 and who now coaches at Division I South Dakota State, received national attention this week when he announced he would go barefoot in his team's Saturday game as part of a fundraising effort for earthquake relief in Haiti.
The Statesmen return to action Saturday when they travel to No. 1 Arkansas Tech. Tipoff from Russellville, Ark. is scheduled for 6 p.m.
