CLEVELAND, Miss. - For the second straight season, the Delta State University men's basketball team fell in the semifinals of the Gulf South Conference Tournament to Alabama Huntsville 85-67 on Saturday night at Pete Hanna Center.
 
Inside the Matchup:
    Score: Alabama Huntsville 85 | Delta State 67
    Records: Chargers (23-7) | Statesmen (22-8)
    Series: Delta State leads 19-16
    Location: Pete Hanna Center | Birmingham, Ala.

How It Happened:

• Delta State opened the contest on a 9-3 advantage over Alabama Huntsville with James Kilpatrick getting things started for the Statesmen.
• Alabama Huntsville had an answer going on an 14-6 run and claiming its first lead of the night 17-15 with 12:08 to go in the first half.
• Kilpatrick and Ravion Henry hit back-to-back threes to spark a 8-2 run, reclaiming the lead, 23-23 with less than eight and a half to go.
• At the 8:23 mark, Kip Owens tied it for the Chargers at 23 apiece and ignited a 7-4 run that saw the Chargers lead 30-27
• The Statesmen answered, however, on a 7-3 run and closing out the half with the 34-33 lead as both teams went into the locker room.
• Delta State shot 12-of-24 (50 percent) from the floor in the first half, including 8-for-12 (66.7 percent) from the charity stripe. The Statesmen only hit three of their nine attempts from beyond the arc. Kilpatrick led the Statesmen with 10 points and nine rebounds, while Warner (eight points) and Schmidt (five points) tallied single-digits. Harper, Cornish, Henry and Davis rounded it out with a combined 11 points.
• Alabama Huntsville went 13-of-27 (48.1 percent) from the field, including 5-for-15 (33.3 percent) from distance. The Chargers went a perfect 2-for-2 from the free throw line. Justin Ward the way with 12 points and one rebound for UAH. Owens and Troy Saxton chipped in four points apiece.
• Both sides traded buckets to start the second half with Alabama Huntsville gaining momentum with the 38-36 lead from a Brandon Roberts layup.
• At the 15:44 mark, Schmidt nailed a three from distance to close the margin to two points as both sides continued to go back-and-forth.
• Roberts continued to be clutch for the Chargers securing a layup and sparking a 9-2 run extending the lead by seven points at the 10:25 mark.
• Delta State and Alabama Huntsville battled back-and-forth through the final 10 minutes as the Chargers maintained a double-digit lead.
• Schmidt hit a three-point from beyond the arc and closed the gap to nine points, but as Seab Webster drained all three free throws that sparked a 13-4 run
• The Chargers held on to claim a 85-67 victory over the Statesmen.
• Delta State finished 26-for-52 for the game (50 percent), including going 6-of-14 (42.9 percent) from three-point range. DSU went 9-of-14 (64.3 percent) at the free throw line for the game. UAH was 31-of-57 (54.4 percent) from the field and 11-of-12 (91.7 percent) from the charity stripe, while going just 12-of-28 from distance. 
• Schmidt led the way for Delta State with 21 points, while Kilpatrick added 15 points and nine rebounds. Warner added 12 points while Henryrounded it out with 11 points for the Statesmen.
• Alabama Huntsville was led by Brandon Roberts, who had 18 points and three rebounds. Michael Gilmore and Troy Saxton added 17 points each for the Chargers. 

Notables:          

• Devin Schmidt needs 12 points to become the GSC all-time scoring leader. He also had seven rebounds, one shy of breaking into the 700 mark.
• This marks the fourth straight loss in a GSC semifinal game and the Statesmen are now 11-8 in semifinal games in the conference tournament.

   
Who's Next:

• The Green-and-White will wait to see if they receive a vote to participate in the NCAA Regional Selection Show. The selection show will be held on Sunday, March 5 at 10:30 p.m. ET and can be viewed here.