GAME NOTES: Delta State at West Alabama (GSC Tournament) CLEVELAND, Miss. – With the No. 6 seed in the Gulf South Conference Tournament, Delta State University men's basketball travels to Livingston, Ala. this week to take on No. 3 seeded West Alabama in the opening round at Pruitt Hall.
| STATESMEN GAME DAY INFORMATION |
|---|
| Date/Location: | March 3, 2015 | Pruitt Hall | Livingston, Ala. |
| Tipoff Time: | West Alabama | 7:00 p.m. |
| Radio: | Statesmen Sports Network | JT Webb (PxP) |
| Series History: | 67th meeting with UWA; Statesmen lead series 39-27 |
| Live Audio: | Listen Here |
| Live Stats: | Live Stats |
| Live Video: | Watch Here |
TIPOFFStatesmen basketball (15-13, 12-10 GSC) travels to Livingston, Ala. this week to face West Alabama (20-10, 15-7 GSC) for the opening round of the Gulf South Conference Tournament.
West Alabama earned the No. 3 seed to host an opening round game aginst No. 6 Delta State. No. 1 Huntsville will face No. 8 North Alabama, No. 2 West Georgia will take on No. 7 Christian Brothers, and No. 4 Shorter will play No. 5 Union.
Delta State is 12-18 when playing at Pruitt Hall all-time.
The Statesmen and Tigers have met twice this season, splitting the regular season series.
Delta State earned the 73-66 victory on Dec. 6, 2014 in Cleveland, Miss. in the first meeting of the season. UWA's Justin Wright led all scorers with 25 points, the only Tiger to score in double figures. DSU's
Devin Schmidt led two Statesmen in double figures with 19 points, while
Jack Madgen chipped in 13.
In the second meeting in Livingston, Ala., the Tigers defeated DSU 72-65 on Jan. 22, 2015. Charles Eaton led the Tigers with 22 points. Schmidt tallied 19 points to lead four Statesmen in double figures. Madgen and
LaQuavius Cotton contributed 14 points each, with
PJ Davis adding 11.
Sophomore
Devin Schmidt was named to the All-GSC First Team this week. Joining him were Deonta Stocks (West Georgia), Dedric Ware (Shorter), Trey Casey (Christian Brothers), and Corieon Pearson (Union).
With a phenomenal freshman season,
PJ Davis earned the GSC Freshman of the Year accolade, averaging 9.4 ppg and 7.1 rpg and recording seven double-doubles.
Delta State is coming off a thrilling 71-70 win over rival Mississippi College. After only scoring three points in the first 38 minutes of play, Madgen knocked down two 3-pointers in the final two minutes to lift the Statesmen over the Choctaws.
Madgen is now tied for fourth on the Delta State all-time 3-pointers made list with 139. He is tied with Cedric Matthew (1995-96) and chasing DSU great Twentis Magee (1995-98) for the top spot with 195.
Last season, the Green-and-White opened the GSC Tournament with a 67-53 win over West Florida before falling to the 2013-14 runner up Christian Brothers, 67-64.
Delta State is shooting 41.5 percent from 3-point range and 75.0 percent from the charity stripe to lead the league. West Alabama leads the GSC in scoring defense (68.7 ppg), scoring margin (7.6), and blocked shots (4.3 bpg). The Tigers are second in field-goal percentage (48.8%) and field-goal percentage defense (43.6%).
With a win on Tuesday, DSU will travel to Birmingham, Ala. for the Final Four of the GSC Tournament to face the winner of No. 7 Christian Brothers and No. 2 West Georgia at 7:30 p.m. The venue will be the Pete Hanna Center on the campus of Stamford University.
