CLEVELAND, Miss. – Delta State University men's basketball played host to Gulf South Conference opponent Valdosta State on Thursday night at Walter Sillers Coliseum. The Blazers came away with the win, 74-71. DSU drops to 6-5 overall and 3-2 in league play.
 
Four Statesmen tallied double figures in Jack Madgen, Alister Chisholm, Devin Schmidt, and Zelvin Smith, Jr. Schmidt led the Green-and-White with 18 points on 5-of-7 from the field, 1-of-3 from downtown, and 7-of-8 from the free throw line. Smith was one basket shy of tying his career high 18 points established earlier this season against Selma. The junior forward added 16 points and led the defense, hauling in eight rebounds. Chisholm and Madgen chipped in 12 and 11 points, repectively.
 
Delta State started the contest trailing the Blazers from the opening basket. Down by as many as seven in the early minutes of the first half, DSU began to chip away at the deficit. The Statesmen earned their first lead of the night at the 9:21 mark courtesy of a Madgen 3-pointer, giving DSU the 20-18 advantage.
 
The lead changed hands seven times over a span of 3:39 before Delta State came away with the lead, 27-24. Smith sparked the momentum boost on two consecutive trips down the court, draining baskets from beyond the arc.
 
Valdosta soon stole the lead with five unanswered points to close out the half, capitalizing on five Delta State turnovers in six possessions. The Blazers went into the locker room with the lead tilted in their favor, 36-34. DSU held the advantage in shooting at the break, going 13-for-23 from the field and 3-for-5 from downtown.
 
Both squads experienced a sluggish start to the second half, but Valdosta was the team to gain the momentum and the eight-point lead, the largest of the night for either squad, at 50-42 with 13:25 to go in the game.
 
The Blazers put together a late 10-4 run to go ahead of Delta State 66-60 at the 1:56 mark, but Schmidt made things interesting just seconds later, draining a 3-pointer and making the score a one-possession ball game.
 
After a made VSU jumper, Chisholm put the Statesmen back within three with a fastbreak bucket, 68-65, with 51 seconds remaining. On the next trip down the court, the Toronto, Canada native drew the foul and executed at the charity stripe, tallying the score at 68-67.
 
Down by three with the final seconds ticking off the clock, Madgen found Chisholm in the corner behind the arc for the wide-open three. The last-second shot rimmed out as the Statesmen fell to the Blazers by a final, 74-71.
 
Delta State finished the game shooting 58.1 percent from the field (25-of-43), including 40 percent from beyond the arc (4-of-10), and 85 percent from the free throw line (17-of-20). The Statesmen outrebounded the Blazers 29-24 and won the battle in points in the paint (28-20) and points off the bench (12-10).
 
Next up for the Statesmen is a matchup with the Argos of West Florida on Saturday, Dec. 20 at Walter Sillers.