CLEVELAND, Miss. – Delta State University men's basketball dropped its second straight contest for the first time this season in a 75-69 loss to West Georgia on Saturday at Walter Sillers Coliseum.

Inside the Matchup

• Score:  Wolves 75, Statesmen 69
• Records: Delta State (13-6, 8-5 GSC) | West Georgia (13-5, 10-3 GSC)
• Series: DSU leads series 26-18
• Location: Walter Sillers Coliseum | Cleveland, Mississippi | 4 p.m.
   
  How It Happened
• The Wolves opened the contest on a 10-0 run with UWG's Steph Branch scoring all 10 points, giving West Georgia an early 10-0 advantage.
• Delta State's offense finally ignited after being down by as many as 11. DSU compiled an 8-1 run to inch within one point, 25-24, at the 8:16 mark.
• The Statesmen lost their edge but turned it around at the right time to take their first lead of the game on a Devin Schmidt 3-pointer, 34-32, with 2:07 to play in the first half.
• DSU took a 36-35 advantage into the locker room at halftime.
• West Georgia took the lead 2:58 into the secon half, 39-38, on an Iakeem Alston layup but the lead was short-lived as the Statesmen went on an 8-2 run. Delta State maintained a 51-45 lead with 11:41 to play.
• UWG was able to cut into the deficit with timely shooting from 3-point land and with a 3:02 DSU scoring drought to find its way back on top, 65-61, with 3:26 remaining in the contest. West Georgia used three 3-pointers over 1:04 down the home stretch to gain an advantage.
• The Wolves went on to win 75-69, as Delta State lost its second straight game for the first time this season.
  
  Notables
• Schmidt led all scorers and three Statesmen in double-figures with 25 points. Zelvin Smith followed with 13 points and Jack Madgen chipped in 10. PJ Davis narrowly missed a double-double, leading the defensive effort with 11 boards and added nine points.
• Schmidt moved into third place on the all-time scoring list at Delta State, passing DSU Hall of Famer Twentis Magee (1995-98) with 1,569. Schmidt now has 1,579 career points.
• Delta State erased its season low in shooting percentage in each game of the home stand against West Alabama and West Georgia. Shooting 32.3 percent against the Wolves, DSU diminished its previous season low shooting percentage 33.3 percent against West Alabama two days before.
• The Statesmen lost their second straight game for the first time this season.
   

Game Changer

• West Georgia outshot the Green-and-White 41.3 percent (26-of-63) from the field to 32.3 percent (20-of-62).

 
Who's Next

• The Statesmen hit the road to take on Union University on Thursday, Jan. 28 and Christian Brothers on Saturday, Jan. 30. Tip-offs are scheduled for 8 p.m. and 4 p.m., respectively.