GAME NOTES: Statesmen basketball at Shorter/UA-Huntsville (1.10-12.13)
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CLEVELAND, Miss. - The Statesmen (4-7, 0-3 GSC) of Delta State University travel to face the Hawks (8-4, 2-2 GSC) of Shorter University inside the Winthrop-King Centre on Thursday, Jan. 10 at 8 p.m., then make their way to Huntsville, Ala. to face current GSC leaders Chargers (11-1, 4-0 GSC) of the University of Alabama-Huntsville under the lights of Spragins Hall on Saturday, Jan. 12. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.
Terry Leake, Jr., a 6-foot-5 shooting guard, has worked his way to being ranked 15th nationally in both scoring and rebounding. The Memphis, Tenn., native, who was a GSC Pre-season All-GSC Team pick, also currently leads the GSC in scoring (20.5) and in rebounding (10.3). Leake, Jr. also ranks 5th with five double-doubles.
Junior point guard Cornel Knight leads the team with 35 career starts as a Statesman.The 6-foot-3 guard has been a steady and reliable option for the Green-and-White, only not starting two games during his career. The Mobile, Ala., native this season averaging 8.4 points, 5.9 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game for the Statesmen.
Despite holding a 4-7, 0-3 GSC record Delta State ranks 2nd in the GSC in scoring defense holding opponents to an average 61.5 ppg on the season but are only averaging 60.1 ppg on offense. The Green-and-White holds a strong winning tradition but are currently in a transition year with many new faces across the board. Once the offense picks up watch out for the Statesmen
Jim Boone (4-7/DSU) enters his first season as head coach of the Statesmen, while bringing 26 years of collegiate experience to Walter Sillers Coliseum. The Winfield, W.V., native is 434-335 in his career, including six conference championships, four tournament titles and seven NCAA postseason appearances.
Delta State returns to Sillers Colliseum next week to play host to a pair of GSC opponents, the Statesmen welcome West Alabama on Jan. 17, at 7:30 p.m. then squares off against West Georgia on Saturday, Jan. 19, 4 p.m. Both games will be broadcasted on the Statesmen Sports Network.
A NEW BEGINING BETWEEN STATESMEN AND HAWKS
The Statesmen and the Hawks will square off against each other on the hardwood for the first-time on Jan. 10 inside the Winthrop-King Centre.
The Green-and-White holds a strong winning tradition in the GSC historically but Shorter brings to the table a winning tradition of their own from the NAIA. The team from Rome, Ga. is currently transitioning to Division II status and will be a full member in 2014.
STATESMEN LOOK TO STUN CHARGERS
Delta State squares off against Alabama-Huntsville for the 22nd time on Jan. 12, with the Green-and-White holding a 13-8 all-time lead over over the Chargers.
The last time the Statesmen went into Spragins Hall, senior forward Terry Leake, Jr. posted a career-high 34 points in a devestating loss but the last meeting between the two teams occured on March 02, as Delta State dropped a 72-50 decision in the first-round of the GSC Tournament.
KNIGHT LEADS STATESMEN FROM PG SPOT
Junior point guard Cornel Knight is looking to build upon a solid sophomore campaign last season. The 6-foot-3 guard averaged 8.0 points and 2.7 assists per game. In 2011-12 the Statesmen won six games, oddly each DSU victory came in contests where Knight scored in double figures. This season, the Marion Military Institute transfer is averaging 9.4 points, 6.7 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game.
LEAKE LEADS GSC IN SCORING/RANKS 15TH NATIONALLY
After leading the Statesmen in scoring 10 games this season, Terry Leake Jr. also leads the Gulf South Conference in that category. The Memphis, Tenn., native has posted five double-doubles on the season. The Marion Military Institute transfer also pulled down a career best 15 rebounds in the win against Selma University. Leake is the only player in the GSC averaging a double double and leads the way with 20.5 points per game while he also leads in the GSC with 10.3 rebounds per contest.
Leake, Jr.'s outstanding scoring numbers also ranks 15th nationally in the NCAA statistics.
MADGEN LEARNING AS HE GOES
Jack Madgen has been forced to learn on the fly for the Statesmen basketball team. The freshman has started eight games this season, and has averaged 9.3 points along with 3.0 assists while doing so. The Williamstown, South Australia native has also shot 34.0 percent from behind the arc so far on the season. His 9.3 points per game rank third.
ALLBRITTON BREAKS OUT
Senior forward Matt Allbritton sat out last season for the Statesmen and saw limited action the first eight games of the 2012-13 season but has earned more playing time after posting a career-high 15 points against Belhaven University (12.29.12). Allbritton through the last four games is averaging 10 ppg and is shooting .500 from behind the arc.
SMITH & ALLBRITTON RECORD CAREER-HIGHS
Ryan Smith and Matt Albritton are coming off of career-high performances against Belhaven University (12.19.12), both shattered their previous scoring highs by producing 21 & 15 point performances respectively.
Smith has provided the Statesmen with a constant inside presence while Albritton has kept opposing defenses off-balance due to his ability to shoot from the perimiter and cut to the basket.
DOWN UNDER STATESMEN
Delta State will feature 10 newcomers this season, including two with international flare. Australia natives Jack Madgen, a 6-foot-3 shooting guard, and Declan Harrick, a 6-foot-9 center, will figure heavily in the plans for the Statesmen this season.
The duo are the first Australians to play for DSU since former power forward Oliver Mansour, a 6-foot-8 Melbourne native, finished his career in 2009-2010.
LOOKING FOR 15
Should the Statesmen collect 15 victories this year, two major milestones will fall for the program - 1,200 all-time victories and 700 Gulf South Conference wins.
The Statesmen boast the second most wins all-time amongst GSC institutions with a career record of 1,185-789-1. DSU is also a blistering 684-444 in league games.
STATESMEN PICKED TO FINISH SIXTH IN GSC; LEAKE NAMED PRESEASON ALL-GSC
For the third consecutive year, Alabama-Huntsville was selected as a GSC Men's Basketball Pre-Season Coaches' Poll Favorite. Delta State was picked sixth.
UAH was also a unanimous selection by the league's head coaches for the second year in a row, securing seven first-place votes en route to 49 points. The Chargers proved the prognosticators correct a year ago, capturing their first-ever GSC Tournament Title and also claiming their second straight NCAA South Regional Championship.
Christian Brothers came in second (36) after posting runner-up efforts in last year's GSC and Regional Finals. Third-place West Georgia (30) was the only other team to hit the 30-point total, while fourth-place West Alabama earned the lone remaining first-place vote to rack up 29 points. North Alabama (26) finished in the No. 5 spot, while Delta State and Valdosta State finished in a tie for sixth-place (20). West Florida rounded out the Pre-Season list by garnering 14 points.
Alabama-Huntsville was the lone school to place multiple players by posting at least two members for the third year in a row. Senior guard Jaime Smith and senior forward Zane Campbell return to the Pre-Season squad for the third consecutive season. Smith collected All-GSC First Team laurels a year ago, while Campbell is a 2011 First Team winner. Both players helped lead the Chargers to their first-ever GSC Title and second straight NCAA Regional Crown. Smith led the GSC a year ago in three-point field goal percentage (.486—107-220) and was second in free throw percentage (.849—146-172) and third in scoring (18.0). Campbell, a former GSC Player of the Year in 2010-11, placed third in field goal percentage (.607—193-318) and blocked shots (1.3) and ninth in scoring (14.7).
Delta State senior forward Terry Leake, West Alabama senior guard Steven Samuels and Christian Brothers junior guard Harry Green round out the GSC Pre-Season Team. Leake finished ninth in the Conference in steals a year ago (0.7) and 10th in scoring (14.0). Samuels is UWA's first Pre-Season player since 2010 after he led the Tigers in scoring (14.1) and rebounding (6.4) in just 17 games. Green started in all but one of CBU's 32 contests a year ago, placing eighth in the GSC in assists (3.3) and ninth in assists/turnover ratio (1.4).
SIX AND COUNTING
Delta State enters the 2012-13 season with six Gulf South Conference championships, the most by any member institution. The Statesmen also own GSC records for postseason tournament appearances (24), wins (26), semifinal berths (17) and finals appearances (12).
STATESMEN, NOT FIGHTING OKRA
Despite some rowdy student objections, athletic programs at Delta State University do not use the student-chosen sub-mascot, Fighting Okra. The Fighting Okra, the most vicious of all vegetables, was created by a band of students at DSU in the late 1980's and early 1990's. While some on campus embrace the scary veggie, DSU Athletics does not. Our programs have always been, and will continue to be the Statesmen and Lady Statesmen. If you have a problem with that, take it up with the vegetable in the corner with boxing gloves.
