FLORENCE, Ala. - John Cornish drilled six three pointers and scored a career-high 18 points, and the Delta State University men's basketball team survived a furious rally by North Alabama to knock off the Lions 84-79 at Flowers Hall. 
 
Inside the Matchup:
    Score:  Delta State 84 | North Alabama 79
    Records:  Statesmen (13-6, 8-5 GSC) | Lions (11-8, 6-7 GSC)
    Series: DSU leads series 46-42
    Location: Flowers Hall | Florence, Ala.

How It Happened:

• James Kilpatrick, Devin Schmidt and John Cornish got the Statesmen offense going, holding a 12-5 advantage in the opening four minutes of the game.
• Both sides went back-and-forth for the majority of first half, but DSU maintained a comfortable 20-13 lead with 8:16 to go.
• The Statesmen held North Alabama without a field goal for over eight minutes in the first half.
• DSU continued its 12-3 run inside the three-minute mark until an Austin Timms layup cut the margin to 12.
• Delta State closed out the half on a 6-2 run and maintained the 38-23 lead as both teams went into the locker room.
• DSU shot 13-of-26 (50 percent) in the first half including going 3-of-8 from three (38 percent) and 9-of-10 from the charity stripe (90 percent).
• Kilpatrick led the way for DSU at the break with nine points, while Ravion Henry, Cornish, Schmidt and Dietrich Taylor added six points apiece. Henry recorded six boards in the opening half.
• The Lions went 7-of-32 (22 percent) from the floor in the first half and shot just 2-of-11 from three-point land (18 percent). UNA hit 7-of-10 from the free throw line. 
• Tavaras Tolliver led North Alabama with seven first-half points, while Timms had five and Myrek Lee-Fowlkes chipped in four for the Lions.
• Cornish opened the scoring in the second half with a trio of three-pointers to extend the Statesmen lead to 47-23.
• The Statesmen continued their hot shooting in going 6-for-9 five minutes into the second half and extending their lead to 25 points.
• North Alabama started to climb back, using a 16-6 run after hitting back-to-back threes to close the gap
• Both offenses were back-and-forth for the majority of the final 10 minutes with Delta State leading 69-54 at the 3:38 mark.
• The Lions posted a surge late in the second half going on a 15-4 run that brought the margin down to seven points with 1:07 left in the game.
• Both teams exchanged baskets in the closing seconds, but a pair of Schmidt free throws secured the 84-79 victory for Delta State.
• UNA finished 23-of-66 (35 percent), while the Statesmen were 25-of-56 (45 percent). UNA was 11-of-26 from long-range. The Statesmen were 7-of-17. Delta State out-rebounded UNA by a wide margin of 48-36. DSU also forced 11 turnovers while committing 19.
• Cornish led with 18 points and three rebounds while Kilpatrick had 16 and eight rebounds. Henry and Schmidt rounded out the pack of scorers with 15 and 11, respectively. DeAndre McKinnie led North Alabama with 18 points while Timms and Tolliver secured 14 apiece.

 
Notables:          

• Cornish's 18 points posts a new career high for the junior.
• Henry's eight rebounds ties his career high for the junior.
• The 48 rebounds posted by the Statesmen ties their season high from earlier this year.

 
Who's Next:

• The Statesmen now have a five straight games at home, beginning with a matchup against West Florida on Feb. 2 at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 2 will be Organization Night as well at Walter Sillers Coliseum. Delta State campus organizations will compete for a chance at $200/$100 donation prizes and the DSU Spirit Cup. Community organizations can use the code "DSUORG17" to get 50% off online ticket purchases.