CLEVELAND, Miss. – Statesmen basketball played host to College of Faith on Monday night for the first meeting between the squads in program history. Delta State held the tempo the whole game, cruising to an 88-71 victory over the Warriors.
 
The Statesmen (3-3) started the contest on a 12-2 run in the opening four minutes of play. Faith showed some life by inching within two points, cutting the score to 12-10 at the 13:38 mark. From that moment on Delta State built on its lead and controlled the pace the rest of the contest.
 
DSU earned its largest lead of the half, reeling off a 12-2 run to lead 44-27. The Statesmen went into the locker room with the score tilted in their favor, 44-29.
 
The two squads met each other basket for basket to start the second half, but Delta State never relinquished the commanding lead.
 
Turnovers and fouls plagued the Warriors and Statesmen, making performance at the charity stripe crucial.
 
Delta State earned its largest lead of the night with 2:01 to go in the game on a Jack Madgen three-pointer from LaQuavius Cotton. The Green-and-White held on to win by a final 88-71.
 
Five Statesmen contributed double figures, including Madgen, Cotton, Devin Schmidt, Zelvin Smith Jr, and PJ Davis. Schmidt led the way with 20 points on 6-of-11 from the field, followed by Madgen with 19 points. The Australian guard went 4-of-10 from the field and a perfect 10-of-10 from the free throw line. Cotton added 12 points, while Smith and Davis tallied 11 points each.
 
As a team, DSU shot 58.3 percent from the field (28-of-48), 42.9 percent from beyond the arc (3-of-7), and 80.6 from the line (29-of-36). Delta State outrebounded Faith 37-26, while also earning the advantage in points in the paint 42-28.
 
The Green-and-White are back in action on Thursday, Dec. 4 as the Statesmen open up conference play with West Georgia. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. at Walter Sillers Coliseum.