LIVINGSTON, Ala. – West Alabama sprinted out to a quick start against the Delta State University men's basketball team and had an answer for every Statesmen run as the Tigers knocked off DSU 73-61 in Gulf South Conference action on Thursday night at Pruitt Hall. 
 
THE BASICS:

    Score:  West Alabama 73, Delta State 61
    Records: Tigers (18-6, 12-4 GSC) | Statesmen (10-14, 8-8 GSC)
    Series: Delta State leads 43-31
    Location | Time: Pruitt Hall | 7:30 p.m.
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TURNING POINT:
 

• With 14:22 to play, the Statesmen cut the lead to three, 41-38, but the Tigers used a 7-0 run to go back up by 10, and ultimately held off the Statesmen to improve to 12-4 in GSC play.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:
 

• The Statesmen placed three players in double figures, led by 16 points from Brett Warner. PJ Davis added 13 and Armon Benford added 10 for the Green-and-White. 
• West Alabama outrebounded Delta State 30-26, and had 24 points off of 15 DSU turnovers. 
• The Statesmen held the narrow 26-24 edge in points in the paint, and had 12 second chance points to UWA's nine. 
• Charles Eaton (29) led three Tigers in double figures, followed by Josh Fleming (14) and Gavin Robinson (12).

INSIDE THE FLOW:
 

• West Alabama raced out to a 13-6 lead, with the GSC's leading scorer Charles Eaton scoring 11 of the first 13 for the Red-and-White. 
• The Tigers built a 16-point, 27-11 advantage with 3:36 to play in the first half, but Delta State had answer to close the half. 
• Delta State outscored the Tigers 13-3 in the final three and a half minutes, capped by a 25-foot three-point basket from Matthew Wilson seconds before the first half expired. 
• UWA built their lead back to ten at 39-29 in the opening four minutes of the second half, but the Green-and-White responded with a 9-2 run to cut the lead to three, 41-38, with 14:22 to play. 
• The Tigers again had the answer, utilizing a 16-4 sprint to take a 57-42 lead with 9:49 left to play in the game. 
• Delta State continued to chisel away, cutting it down to five, 63-58, with 2:24 to go. 
• UWA again had the answer, however, stretching the lead back out to 13 points as the final buzzer sounded to collect their 18th win of the season.

NOTABLES:
 

• PJ Davis tallied 13 points, moving into 11th place all-time in DSU history. Davis sits at 1,224 career points and is just 26 points from passing Gerald Glass (1986-1987), who scored 1,249 for the Statesmen. 
• Davis also added to his school blocks record with three rejections. Davis has totaled 191 blocks in his career and needs five more to pass Jon Rogers (195 blocks for Valdosta State from 2002-2006) for third place in GSC history. 
• The Tigers sweep the regular season series from the Statesmen for the first time since the 2012-2013 season.

WHO'S NEXT:
 

• The Statesmen remain on the road for game two of their three game road trip. Delta State travels to Montevallo to take on the Falcons at Trustmark Arena on Saturday, Feb. 10 at 4 p.m.