Chad vs HSU

Men's Basketball Alan Wiederhold

North Alabama upsets Delta State 93-89 at GSC Tournament

Chad Akins recorded nine assists in DSU's loss to North Alabama.

SOUTHAVEN, Miss. – The Delta State Statesmen erased a 16-point second half deficit but could not hold off a late charge by North Alabama as the Lions claimed a 93-89 upset win in the opening round of the Gulf South Conference tournament Friday at the DeSoto Civic Center.

 

The Lions pulled away with four free throws in the final 10 seconds of the game after Eric Spencer (Marion, Ark./Arkansas-Fort Smith) tied the game at 89 with 11 seconds remaining.

 

Roderick Ollie (Indianola, Miss./UAB) poured in 18 points and Jeremie Davis (Arcadia, La./New Orleans) scored 17 points to lead five players tallying double-figures for Delta State (19-8, 10-4 GSC).

 

Daviel Clements scored a game-high 27 points for North Alabama (13-15, 4-6 GSC). His efforts were aided by Rory Miller, who added 26 points for the Lions.

 

North Alabama, the No. 3 seed from the GSC's East Division, pulled off the first upset of the men's tournament by knocking out the Statesmen, who finished in second place in the GSC West.

 

Free throws proved to be a difference-maker in the game, as the Lions sank 70 percent (26-of-37) of their charity shots, while Delta State only made 53 percent (19-of-36) of its free throws.

 

The Lions led by as many as 16 points early in the second half but before they could put away DSU early, the Statesmen went on a 7-0 run to cut the margin to single-digits with 17:39 remaining in the second half.

 

The comeback effort continued later in the half when the Statesmen used a 15-6 run between the 15:23 and 10:19 to cut Leo's lead to one point. Davis converted a fast-break layup while getting fouled and then hit the ensuing free throw to make the score 66-65 in favor of UNA.

 

Both teams kept exchanging baskets from that point forward as the Lions kept the Statesmen from regaining the lead. The Statesmen finally reclaimed the lead at 78-77 on a 3-pointer by Davis with 4:50 remaining.

 

The Lions bumped their lead back up to five points with three minutes remaining, but a 5-0 Statesmen run capped by a layup and free throw by Spencer tied the game at 86 with 1:59 remaining.

 

After the Statesmen tied the game at 89, Jacobe Shannon made one of his two free throw attempts, giving the Lions a one-point lead with 10 seconds remaining. The Statesmen tried to push the ball upcourt, but turned the ball over and were forced to foul again.

 

Joe McCray (Fort Lauderdale, Fla./Nebraska) recorded the contest's only double-double, scoring 14 points and grabbing a game-high 10 rebounds. Marqueys Brown (Memphis, Tenn./Crichton College) scored 13 points for the Statesmen.

 

Delta State's second-half effort proved to be in stark contrast from their first-half showing when the Lions roared out to a sizable lead in the latter stages before halftime.

 

The Statesmen, particularly Dmitry Pirshin, had the hot hand at the start. Pirshin scored DSU's first three field goals to put the green-and-white ahead 6-3.

 

Delta State was able to control the tempo in the early going, using a 7-0 run between the 17:21 and 16:11 marks to jump out to a 13-7 lead. After an exchange of baskets, Davis pushed the Statesmen advantage back up to six at 19-13 with a layup and subsequent free throw with 12:37 left before halftime.

 

North Alabama seized momentum from that point on, using a 10-0 run to claim a 23-19 lead at the 10:33 mark. The Lions did not trail the rest of the half and took a 51-39 lead into the locker room thanks to a 10-1 run over the last two minutes.

 

Spencer and Pirshin tallied 11 points and nine points, respectively for Delta State.

 

The loss could end up being a knockout blow to the pursuit of the DSU career assists record by Chad Akins (Madison, Miss./Madison Central HS). Akins tallied a game-high nine assists in addition to scoring three points for Delta State.

 

Akins upped his career assists total to 544, which moved him into second place on the school's all-time list past Carl Brown (1983-86), who amassed 539 in his career. Akins was pursuing the all-time mark of 559, held by current South Dakota State head coach Scott Nagy, who ended his DSU career in 1988.

 

North Alabama advanced to Saturday's semifinal round, where they will meet the winner of the game between Alabama-Huntsville and Harding.

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