LAKELAND, Fla. – The No. 13 Statesmen of Delta State University took part in day one of the Sunshine State/Gulf South Conference Challenge held on the campus of Florida Southern. DSU won the season opener by defeating Eckerd College, 89-77, in Jenkins Field House on Saturday.
 
With eight lead changes and seven ties in the first half, the contest proved to be a pressure packed event.
 
Delta State's Jack Madgen opened the game going a perfect 4-for-4 from behind the arc for 12 points. Down by five at the 14:28 mark, Madgen connected from downtown to bring the Statesmen within two, 15-13.
 
Both squads exchanged baskets, but DSU took the lead, 22-20, with a layup from sophomore Devin Schmidt with 11:18 left in the first half.
 
The Statesmen never relinquished the lead for the rest of the half. LaQuavius Cotton gave DSU its largest lead at the 7:04 mark with an old fashioned three-point play, putting the ten-point advantage with DSU, 36-26.
 
Scoring was limited in the closing five minutes of the half, leaving the score 42-33 at intermission.
 
The Green-and-White came out of the locker room firing on all cylinders with three-pointers from Schmidt and Alister Chisholm and buckets from Madgen and PJ Davis to extend the Statesmen lead to 17.
 
The Tritons gained some ground and inched back within 8, reeling off a 9-0 run. Schmidt snapped the run quickly with a three-pointer and jumper on back-to-back possessions.
 
Ethan Gillis, Cotton, Smith, and Schmidt sparked an 11-8 run over 10 minutes late in the game, putting the scoring margin back to 16, to lead 72-56 with 6:09 left on the clock.
 
Eckerd made the game interesting in the final minutes, trying to cut the deficit to single digits, but the lead was too much for the Tritons to overcome. The Statesmen went on to win, 89-77.
 
Four Statesmen contributed double-figure days in Schmidt, Madgen, Hester, and Smith. Schmidt, a native of Sevierville, Tennessee went 9-of-16 from field-goal range, 3-of-5 from behind the arc, and 4-of-5 from the charity stripe for a total of 25 points to lead all scorers. Madgen, the 6-5 guard, added 16 points, followed by Smith with 12 and Hester with 10.
 
As a team, Delta State shot 64.4 percent from the field, 57.1 percent from downtown, and 79.3 percent from the free throw line.
 
The Statesmen face a tough test on Sunday, Nov. 16 as DSU takes on No. 9 Florida Southern in the second day of the Sunshine State/Gulf South Conference Challenge. Tipoff is slated for 4:00 p.m. EST.