CLEVELAND, Miss. – The Delta State University men's basketball team erased multiple four-plus point deficits in the second half for the second consecutive game, but Lee had all the answers down the stretch as the Flames slipped past the Statesmen 52-49 on Saturday afternoon at Walter Sillers Coliseum in gulf South Conference action.

THE BASICS:

    Score: Lee 52, Delta State 49
    Records: Statesmen (12-15, 10-9 GSC) | Lee (15-11, 10-9 GSC)
    Series: Delta State leads 7-3
    Location | Time: Walter Sillers Coliseum | 4 p.m.
    Get Social: Twitter - @DeltaStateMBB | Facebook – DSUStatesmen | Instagram – DSUAthletics
 
TURNING POINT:
 

• The lead changed hands 15 times over the course of the contest, including 11 times in the second half and nine times in the final eight minutes of the contest as the Flames outlasted the Statesmen to notch the road victory. 

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:
 

• The Statesmen got double-figure scoring from Matthew Wilson (12), PJ Davis (10) and Brett Warner (10).
• Armon Benford added nine points, seven rebounds, five assists and two steals for the Green-and-White.
• Colton Blevins (15) and Ryan Montgomery (12) were the leading scorers for the Flames. 
• Lee out-rebounded Delta State 36-32, and held a 30-24 scoring advantage in the paint. 
• Lee got 17 bench points as compared to DSU's six.
• DSU scored 18 points off of 13 Lee turnovers. 
• Delta State went 20-for-53 (38 percent) for the game, including a 2-for-14 from three (14 percent) and 7-for-8 (88 percent) at the free throw line. 
• The Flames went 21-for-54 (39 percent) from the field and was 4-for-13 (31 percent) from three. Lee went 6-for-9 from the free throw line (67 percent) as a team.

INSIDE THE FLOW:
 

• The Flames jumped out to an early 6-2 advantage in the game's opening two minutes, but DSU responded with a 12-2 run to take a 14-8 lead with 10:51 to go in the half. 
• Lee had an answer for DSU's run, however, as they used a 15-4 spurt to take a 23-18 lead with 46 seconds to go in the first half. 
• Armon Benford's jumepr with 17 seconds left in the half pulled Delta State within three points, 23-20, as the two teams went to the halftime intermission.
• After a quick 5-2 run to take a 28-22 lead, the Statesmen used a 7-0 run behind five points from Matthew Wilson to take a 29-28 lead with just under 16 minutes to play. 
• Another Wilson three-pointer made it 38-38 with 8:14 to play in the contest, and two Davis free throws gave DSU a 40-38 lead. 
• Michael McGuirck hit a three as part of a quick 6-0 turnaround for the Flames, who took the lead back 44-40 with 5:09 to go. 
• Brett Warner gave the Statesmen a 47-46 lead on a fade away jumper with 2:29 to go, but Levi Woods answered with a layup to steal the lead back. 
• Mitch Keller snatched the game back in favor of the Green-and-White one more time, as his layup made it 49-48 DSU with 1:29 remaining. 
• Montgomery and Blevins each added layups in the game's final half-minute, and Brett Warner's long jumper fell short as time expired.
• Lee improved to 2-0 on the year against DSU, sweeping the regular season series for the first time in the team's 10 meetings. 

NOTABLES:
 

• PJ Davis scored 10 points and pulled down nine rebounds, moving him into 9th all-time on the career scoring list and 6th all-time on the career rebounds list. Davis has 1,284 career points, passing Don Cooper (1970-72). He has 722 career rebounds, breaking a tie with Devin Schmidt and Norris Ashley (1965-68), and moving past Mark Easley (1982-85) into 6th all-time. 
• Armon Benford tallied at least five points, five rebounds and five assists for the ninth time this season. 

WHO'S NEXT:

• DSU remains at home to close out the 2017-18 regular season as they look to #BEATmc on Thursday evening. The Statesmen host Mississippi College on Thursday, Feb. 22 at 7:30 p.m.at Walter Sillers Coliseum.