HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – Devin Schmidt poured in 23 points to become the Gulf South Conference all-time leading scorer and led the Delta State University men's basketball team to an 80-67 victory over Christian Brothers University to advance to the semifinals of the NCAA South Region Tournament on Saturday afternoon at Spragins Hall.
Inside the Matchup:
Score: Delta State 80 | Christian Brothers 67
Records: Statesmen (23-8) | Bucs (18-13)
Series: DSU leads series 58-38
Location: Spragins Hall | Huntsville, Ala.
How It Happened:
- Delta State jumped out to an early 7-0 lead within the first two minutes while also locking down the Christian Brothers offense to 0-3 from the floor.
- Christian Brothers got on the board with a 5-0 run from an Alex Trentman jumper and Jeff Larkin three-pointer at the 16:47 mark.
- Devin Schmidt answered with a three of his own and sparked a 7-3 run, making the Statesmen lead 14-8 with less than 12 a half minutes to go in the half.
- At the 11:26 mark, the Buccaneers narrowed Delta State's lead by three points from a Brad Miller free throw.
- Both sides went back-and-forth inside of 10 minutes to go in the half.
- As time expired in the first half James Kilpatrick nailed a long distance three to make the score 34-23 as both teams went into the locker room.
- Delta State shot 20-of-33 (60.6 percent) from the floor in the first half, including 4-for-7 (57.1 percent) from beyond the arc. The Statesmen were 0-for-2 from the charity stripe Kilpatrick and Schmidt led the Statesmen with nine points each, while PJ Davis tallied eight points and Henry tallied seven. Harper and Warner rounded out the DSU halftime scorers with 11 points combined.
- Christian Brothers went 11-of-25 (44 percent) from the field, including 6-for-16 (35.7 percent) from distance. The Bucs went 5-of-6 from the free throw line. Jeff Larkin led the way with 13 points for CBU. Trentman chipped in seven points and seven rebounds while Dieball tallied five points.
- Both sides traded buckets to start the second half, after a Davis free throw, the Statesmen led by double-digits (50-40) with 16:03 left in the game.
- The Buccaneers answered, however, closing the gap to seven points after going on a 9-4 run, but Delta State still led 56-49 at the 11:45 mark.
- Inside of the 10 minute-mark, the Statesmen continued to dominate. The Statesmen stretched the lead to 12 points (63-51) after a three-pointer from Schmidt.
- A pair of Jeff Larkin free throws sparked a 5-0 run to narrow the gap to seven points at 56-63 for Christian Brothers.
- Ravion Henry answered with a layup to ignite a 12-1 run and extending the Statesmen lead to 75-57 with 3:25 left in the game.
- The Bucs only scored eight points in the final three minutes as Delta State claimed a 80-67 victory.
- Delta State shot 33-for-61 for the game (54.1 percent), including going 6-of-14 (42.9 percent) from three-point range. DSU went 8-of-15 (53.3 percent) at the free throw line for the game. Christian Brothers was 23-of-54 (42.6 percent) from the field and 11-of-29 (37.9 percent) from three-point range, while going 10-of-14 at the free throw line.
- Schmidt had another standout night with 23 points and seven rebounds for Delta State, while Davis added 18 points and nine rebounds. Kilpatrick added 13 points, five rebounds and four assists, and Henry and Harper tallied 10 points and eight points, respectively, for the Statesmen.
- Christian Brothers was led by Jeff Larkin, who had 22 points and one rebound. Brad Miller and Adam Dieball added a combined 22 points for the Bucs.
Notables:
- Schmidt became the GSC all-time leading scorer with his 23 points to now have 2,581 points in his career.
- Schmidt also broke into the 700 career rebounds with seven and currently has 706.
- Delta State advanced to its 13th second round of the NCAA Men's Basketball South Region Tournament.
Who's Next:
- The Green-and-White will face the victor between Valdosta State (26-5, No. 2 seed) and Rollins (21-10, No. 7 seed) on Sunday, March 12 at 5 p.m. in the semifinals.
