GAME NOTES: Statesmen Basketball vs. Christian Brothers/UA-Monticello
Complete Weekly Release in PDF

CLEVELAND - Delta State begins the final week of the regular season with the short trip up Highway 61 to Memphis, Tenn., Thursday to take on Christian Brothers. The Buccaneers (17-9, 5-7 GSCW) welcome in the Statesmen (13-12, 7-5 GSCW) for an 8 p.m. tip-off at Canale Arena. Thursday's matchup is the second of the season. DSU thrashed CBU 69-47 on Jan. 27 at Sillers Coliseum. The game marks the 82nd meeting all-time between the GSC fies with the Statesmen holding a 49-32 edge in the series.

The Statesmen close out the regular season on Saturday, as the Boll Weevils of Arkansas-Monticello (13-11, 5-7 GSCW) invade Walter Sillers Coliseum on “Senior Night.” Game time is set for 6 p.m. The Statesmen defeated the Boll Weevils 72-65 at Steelman Fieldhouse on Jan. 29 after trailing by 11 points. Saturday's showdown is the 83rd meeting on the court between the cross-river foes. DSU leads the all-time series 64-18.

With Delta State's 79-73 win over Henderson State, the Statesmen claimed their 675th all-time Gulf South Conference victory. The green-and-white are 675-422 all-time in GSC play and trails North Alabama, who holds the GSC wins record at 688.

With two games remaining in the regular season, the Statesmen hold a two game lead in the Gulf South Conference West Division standings. DSU enters the week 7-5 in West Division play while this week's opponents, Christian Brothers and Arkansas-Monticello, are tied with 5-7 records. The Statesmen need one win to clinch a berth in the GSC Tournament March 3-8 at the Desoto Civic Center.

Senior guard Phil Turner (6-3/G) leads the Statesmen in scoring heading into this week at 18.1 points per game. The Grenada native ranks third in the GSC scoring and third in steals (52) at 2.6 per game. He's scored 21, 31 and 29 points respectively in his last three games. Against GSC opponents, Turner is averaging 21.0 points and 6.0 rebounds per game.

Freshman point guard Jay Murphy is proving he's no ordinary freshman. The former Bolivar Central star is averaging 4.6 assists per game, ranking third in the GSC, to lead the Statesmen. He also ranks third in the all-important assists/turnover ratio (2.13). Against GSC teams, Murphy is averaging 8.3 points and 5.7 assists per game. His 110 assists this season are the most by a freshman since Carl Brown's freshman record 147 in 1982-83.

Complete game notes, rankings and statistics are available at the link above.