VALDOSTA, Ga. -- The Delta State University Men's Basketball team traveled to Valdosta State on Saturday night for the first of two GSC matchups this weekend. The Statesmen and Blazers traded early buckets before an early run by the Blazers pushed the lead to 20-9 as VSU made all four of their attempts from beyond the arc in the first 7 minutes.
Delta State began to build momentum with two steals around the 10-minute mark as well as a tough layup by Chris Terrell. Keithean Brooks converted a three-point play with 8:51 left in the half to cut the Blazer lead to 6. Brooks also scored on a drive two possessions later and stole the ensuing inbound pass for an easy layup to cut the lead to two at 26-24 with 7:56 left in the half.
The Blazers pushed the lead back to seven, but Chris Terrell made two three-pointers at the 3:23 and 2:58 marks to cut the lead back to one at 34-33. The two teams traded buckets for the rest of the half as the Blazers took a 38-37 lead break into the half.

Valdosta came out of the locker room hot with a 16-2 run to start the second half to take a 54-39 lead. Delta State responded quickly with 16-4 run of their own, including three-point makes by Brooks, Terrell, Derek Moore, and Kolby Horace, to cut the lead to 58-55 with 10:20 left.
VSU scored six straight, but Brooks answered with two three-pointers within 10 seconds to make it a 64-61 VSU lead. The Blazers made two more free throws, but Terrell hit another three to cut the lead to two at 66-64 with 6:49 left.
Terrell hit his sixth three-pointer of the game with 4:36 left after a VSU layup to once again cut the lead to one at 68-67. He also hit two free throws to put DSU ahead 69-68, their first lead since 37-36 with 1:15 left in the first half.
The seventh three-point make by Terrell put DSU up four. His eighth three-pointer put the Statesmen up five before an alley-oop by the Blazers cut it back to three at 75-72 with just 1:39 left in the game.
A VSU layup by Lee Flenor with 52 seconds left cut the lead to one. Both teams missed shots on their next possessions, and a clutch rebound by Maalik Cartwright allowed VSU to begin fouling. Kolby Horace made both of his free throws just before a missed Blazer free throw at the horn sealed the win for the Statesmen.
 
The TIP-OFF: 
Score: DSU 77 | Valdosta State 74
Records: DSU 5-1 (3-0 GSC) | Blazers 4-3 (1-2 GSC) 
City | Venue: Valdosta, Ga. | The Complex
Get Social: Twitter - @DeltaStateMBB | Instagram – @DeltaStateMBB 
 
STATS OF THE GAME: 

• Delta State was 15-of-35 from beyond the arc compared to 6-of-12 for the Blazers
• The Blazers held a .529 percent shooting advantage over DSU's .412 percent
• The Statesmen defense forced 17 Blazer turnovers and scored 29 points off the takeaways
•  Delta State scored 12 second-chance points off of 12 offensive rebounds

UP NEXT:  
The Statesmen continue their road trip on Monday with a 4:00 pm tipoff against the West Florida Argonauts on Monday, Dec. 3 in Pensacola.