Box Score  LIVINGSTON, Ala. – The Delta State University Men's Basketball team's cold shooting from the field led to a 64-51 victory for the University of West Alabama at Pruitt Hall on Saturday. The green-and-white connected on just 14-of-51 (27%) from the field while the Tigers offensive unit posted 25-of-58 (43%) from the floor.

The Statesmen (5-17, 1-10 GSC) and the Tigers (8-16, 5-6 GSC) both started the game cold on the offensive end neither scoring a basket until 16:58 mark in the first-half when Aaron Cooper connected on a three to put the green and white ahead.

Ryan Fitch put the cap on a 9-0 West Alabama run with a three to put the Tigers on top 9-3 with 11:20 remaining. The Statesmen would respond with a three from Cooper and a basket from John Hudson to bring Delta State back into the game only trailing 9-8 with 9:55 on the clock.

The Statesmen only managed to score one field goal against the Tigers in the remaining 5:22 minutes while converting seven points from the charity stripe to end the first-half trailing 28-20.

Cooper led the Statesmen in the first-half with six points connecting on two shots from behind the arc, Ryan Smith followed up Cooper with a total of five points, and Hudson chipped in four points.

Fitch and Kyle Belcher both tallied 10 points apiece for the Tigers in the first-half, while Jared Woolfolk snagged four rebounds and contributed two points.

The Tigers opened the second-half streaking on a 9-0 run until Robin Sikes connected on a three pointer at the 16:35 mark. Alquan Mendenhall and Sikes would trade shots from behind the arc on the next several possessions with the Statesmen still trailing 43-26 with 13:27 remaining in the contest.

The bright spot is that the Statesmen shot 80% (16-20) from the free-throw line despite the cold shooting night from the floor.

Hudson posted a season-high 13 points and brought in six rebounds for the Statesmen, while Cooper contributed 16 points, and Sikes would chip in 11 points shooting 3-of-4 from behind the arc.

Mendenhall and Belcher led the Tigers with 12 points apiece, Fitch posted 12 points shooting 4-of-10 from the field, Jared Woolfolk and Steven Samuels contributed eight points each for the red and white.

The Statesmen return to action on Thursday, Feb. 16, traveling to Huntsville, Ala., to take on No. 6 ranked University of Alabama-Huntsville at 7:30 p.m.  The game will be broadcasted on the Statesmen Sports Network.