CLEVELAND, Mississippi – Delta State University Men's Basketball posted a 74-71 Gulf South Conference victory over Christian Brothers University on Thursday night at Walter Sillers Coliseum.
Devin Schmidt paced DSU with 30 points, his eighth career 30-plus point game. The Statesmen improved to 7-2 and 2-1 in GSC play, while CBU slipped to 3-5, 2-1 in the league.
Inside the Matchup- Score: Statesmen 74, Bucs 71
- Records: Delta State (7-2, 2-1 GSC) | Christian Brothers (3-5, 2-1 GSC)
- Series: DSU leads series 53-39
- Location: Walter Sillers Coliseum | Cleveland, Miss. | 7:30 p.m.
How It Happened - The Bucs broke out to an early 13-6 lead at the 15:31 mark on a perfect 5-for-5 from the field, including 3-for-3 from downtown.
- Delta State inched within one point on three different occasions but could not muster up enough offense to take its first lead of the half.
- It wasn't until Devin Schmidt's layup with 4:55 left in the first half that the Statesmen evened the playing field, tying the game at 28-28.
- The Statesmen earned their first lead of the night when Schmidt drained a 3-pointer with just over a minute to play, notching the score at 31-30. DSU went on to take a 33-32 advantage into the locker room at halftime.
- Quickly falling behind in the opening minutes of the second half, Zelvin Smith found the bottom of the net on a wide-open three to regain the DSU lead, 40-39.
- The two squads traded baskets and possession of the lead over the course of 4:37, but Walter Sillers erupted when James Kilpatrick scored on back-to-back buckets to give DSU the 46-41 lead with 13:16 to go in the contest.
- Delta State went on a 10-0 run that spanned 2:56, starting with a Schmidt three and ending with a Kilpatrick layup, to extend DSU's advantage 62-47 at the 8:14 mark.
- Christian Brothers made it a close contest, creeping within two points with 22 seconds left on the game clock, but the Statesmen closed out the game and picked up the 74-71 win.
Notables - Christian Brothers averaged 26.6 percent from 3-point range entering the contest. The Bucs shot 46.2 percent on 6-of-13 in the first half alone and 50 percent on 13-of-26 on the night.
- Devin Schmidt continues his climb to the top spot as the leading scorer in Delta State history. The junior guard now has 1,335 career points, ranking seventh on the all-time scoring list, in his eighth career 30-point game.
- Jack Madgen is slowly climbing his way to the 1,000-point. The senior guard needs 38 points, as he holds 962 career points.
- Junior transfer James Kilpatrick narrowly missed a double-double, tying his career-high 11 points and establishing a new career-high nine boards.
- Head Coach Jim Boone moved closer to a pair of career milestones. The 30-year veteran is three wins away from topping 400 wins at the NCAA Division II level and 11 from eclipsing 500 career victories.
Game Changer- Delta State's bench was key in the victory, scoring 22 points. CBU only scored six points from the bench.
Who's Next- The Statesmen welcome No. 24/6 Union University to Walter Sillers Coliseum for league action on Sunday, Dec. 13. Tip-off with the Bulldogs is slated for 4 p.m.
