HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – The Delta State University men's basketball team kicked off a two-game conference road stint against the Chargers of the University of Alabama in Huntsville on Monday night at Spragins Hall. The Statesmen fell to UAH, 73-61, to drop to 7-6 on the season and 4-3 in Gulf South Conference play.
 
The contest began with two ties and six lead changes in the opening seven minutes of play before the Chargers came out ahead of DSU, leading by eight, 24-16, at the 7:14 mark.
 
Delta State began to chip away at the deficit with a pair of layups from PJ Davis and a 3-pointer from Jack Madgen. Zelvin Smith Jr. added a basket to cut the lead to 24-23 with 4:38 left on the clock.
 
Fouls plagued both sides of the ball, resulting in the final minutes of the first half coming mostly from the free throw line. The score stood at 34-30 tilted in favor of UAH at the break. Scoring was spread out for DSU in the first half as eight of the nine Statesmen to see action contributed to the score.
 
The Chargers built on their lead coming out of the locker room, sparking a decisive 17-8 run to lead 51-38, the largest of the night at 13, at the 15:16 mark.
 
With every advance Delta State tried to make at closing the gap, Alabama-Huntsville rejected the attempt. Turnovers were detrimental for the Statesmen as they fell to UAH by a final 73-61.
 
Devin Schmidt and Davis recorded double figures for the Green-and-White. Schmidt led all scorers with 20 points on 7-of-17 from the field, 5-of-9 from 3-point range, and 1-of-2 from the charity stripe. Davis added a double-double with 14 points, while hauling in 12 rebounds.
 
As a team, DSU went 22-for-55 from field-goal range (40.0 percent), 7-for-17 from downtown (41.2 percent), and 10-for-14 from the free throw line (71.4 percent). All nine Statesmen to see action tallied points.
 
Up next for Delta State is a matchup against the defending GSC Champions, North Alabama. Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m. at Flowers Hall on Wednesday, Jan. 7.