GAME NOTES: No. 25 West Georgia/West Alabama at Delta State (1.12-14.12)
Complete Weekly Release in PDF with statistics and complete notes 

CLEVELAND, Miss. - The Statesmen (4-8, 0-2 GSC) of Delta State University continue in Gulf South Conference action this week with a pair of league games at home in Sillers Coliseum  against No. 25 University of West Georgia (14-2, 1-1 GSC) and the University of West Alabama (3-10, 1-1 GSC).  Both games will be broadcast on the Statesmen Sports Network with Matt Jones, J.T. Webb and Clayton Coffman on the call.   

The Statesmen take the court at Sillers Coliseum against the Wolves on Thursday, Jan. 12, to compete for their first conference win of the season. Delta State and West Georgia have met 34 previous times with the green-and-white leading the all-time series 23-11.  The last time the Wolves came to Sillers Coliseum, the Statesmen came out on top with an 88-72 victory on Dec. 4, 2010.

Saturday, Jan. 14, will mark the first time since 2009 that the Statesmen will have hosted the Tigers at Sillers Coliseum. DSU holds a healthy 37-20 edge all-time in the series over UWA and are currently on a 10-game win streak dating back to the 1994-95 season.

The defending NCAA South Region Champion Alabama-Huntsville Chargers secured seven first-place votes en route to 49 points after also collecting a unanimous finish a year ago.  Valdosta State finished nine points behind with 40 points and the other first-place nod.  Christian Brothers came in at third place (35), followed by North Alabama (28) and West Georgia (22).  Completing the eight-team poll was Delta State (19), West Florida (18) and West Alabama (13).

Terry Leake Jr., junior forward, has had a recent explosion on the offensive side of the ball scoring 57 points in his last three games. Leake now leads the Statesmen in total points on the season with 149, shooting 48% from the field and 36% from behind the arc.

Mobile, Ala., native Cornel Knight has helped the Statesmen backcourt this season in a variety of ways. He's averaged 8.4 points per game, connected on nearly 30% from three-point land, has 1.7 steals per game and collected 5.3 rebounds per contest. Knight is the only Statesmen to start in all 11 games this season and is averaging 33 minutes of playing time on the year.

Jason Conner enters this week's contests with a 91-60 record in his six seasons as head coach of the Statesmen.  The Lakeland, Fla., native needs just nine wins to top the 100-victories plateau.

The 2011-12 Statesmen basketball team returns just two players from a year ago. Seniors Rob Sikes, who played just one game after sustaining a season-ending injury last season, and Marqueys Brown return for Delta State to help form a solid frontcourt.

Through 40 seasons in the Gulf South Conference, Delta State is second in league history with 683 victories, nine behind North Alabama (692).  The Statesmen boast a .613 winning percentage during that time.

UP NEXT
DSU starts next week on the road to face the University of New Orleans (1.16/7 p.m.), then returns home to Sillers Coliseum to face off against the University of Alabama in Huntsville (1.19/8 p.m.), and finishes up the week with a trip to the University of North Alabama (1.21/3 p.m.).