GAME NOTES: Statesmen Basketball vs. Alabama-Huntsville/North Alabama (1.19-21.12)
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CLEVELAND, Miss. - The Statesmen (4-11, 0-4 GSC) of Delta State University continue in Gulf South Conference action this week with against No. 15 University of Alabama Huntsville (12-3, 3-1 GSC) at Sillers Coliseum and then travel to the University of North Alabama (9-6, 2-2 GSC). Both games will be broadcast on the Statesmen Sports Network with
Matt Jones, J.T. Webb and Clayton Coffman on the call.
The green-and-white take the court at Sillers Coliseum against the University of Alabama-Huntsville on Thursday, Jan. 19, to compete for their first conference win of the season. The Statesmen and Chargers have met 19 previous times with the green-and-white leading the all-time series 12-7.
Saturday, Jan. 21, the Statesmen will travel to take on the University of North Alabama. The green-and- white hold a slight edge in the all-time series 39-36. DSU is 2-3 against UNA under the guidance of head coach Jason Conner.
Delta State will be playing against its first two ranked opponents of the season over the next two weeks. Thursday's opponent UA-Huntsville enters this week's game ranked No. 15, while Christian Brothers, who DSU will face on Jan. 28, is ranked No. 11.
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).
Arthur Jackson has stepped up his game averaging 11.7 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 25 minutes through the last four games. Jackson also led the Statesmen in scoring against Shepherd Tech and the University of New Orleans.
Terry Leake Jr., junior forward, has had a recent explosion on the offensive side of the ball scoring 112 points in his last five games. Leake now leads the Statesmen in total points on the season with 204, shooting 48% from the field and 35% from behind the arc.
Mobile, Ala., native
Cornel Knight has helped the Statesmen backcourt this season in a variety of ways. He's averaged 8.5 points per game, connected on nearly 28% from three-point land, has 1.7 steals per game and collected 5.7 rebounds per contest. Knight is the only Statesmen to start in all 15 games this season and is averaging 34.5 minutes of playing time on the year.
Jason Conner enters this week's contests with a 91-63 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, 10 behind North Alabama (693). The Statesmen boast a .613 winning percentage during that time.
UP NEXT
DSU will take a week break and start back the next weekend on the road to face the Christian Brothers University (1.28/4p.m.)
