CLEVELAND, Ms. -- A valiant second half effort gave the Statesmen (6-15, 5-13) a chance to complete a 14-point comeback against the Auburn Montgomery Warhawks (11-10, 5-8) on Saturday night. Delta State outscored the Warhawks 34-28 in the second half while holding them to just 38 percent shooting after an almost 57 percent performance in the first half.

The Statesmen made an effort to get the three-ball going as 7 of their 8 players who touched the floor attempted at least one long ball. Delta State converted on 13 of the 40 three-point attempts (.325) compared to AUM's 7-for-20 (.350) effort from beyond the arc.

Three Statesmen hit at least 3 three-pointers on Saturday, with Kelen Dietrich nailing four such shots in his 14-point effort. Wyatt Bell and Jonathan Knight also hit 3 three-pointers for 11 and 9 points respectively.

Maalik Cartwright was tied with AUM's Roderick Smith for the game-high with 21 points. Maalik also recorded 6 rebounds, 5 assists, and a steal against the Warhawks.

UP NEXT:
The Statesmen are on the road next week with conference games at Alabama Huntsville (17-6, 12-5) on Thursday and West Alabama (17-4, 13-4) on Saturday.