Cleveland, Miss. - The Delta State University Statesmen Men's Basketball team is set to tip-off the 2025-26 season on Friday, November 14^th in Cleveland at Walter Sillers Coliseum. The Statesmen will face the Magicians of LeMoyne-Owen College at 7:00 PM.
 
The game will be live on the FloCollege network with Braden Treaster on the call.
Scouting the Statesmen:

• Kolby Horace returns for his senior season after leading the Statesmen with 4.4 rebounds per game last season. Horace was mentioned for the Preseason All-GSC Team.
• Decory Porter, Elisha Puckett, and Jackson Twombly were named Newcomers to Watch for the 2025-26 Statesmen.
• The Statesmen are coming off a 17-13 2024-25 season, with a 12-10 GSC record. The Statesmen made an appearance in the GSC Postseason Tournament Semifinals for the first time in six seasons before falling to the eventual GSC champions from UAH.

Scouting the Magicians:

• LeMoyne-Owen is went 2-1 in their preseason with a 76-60 loss to Dillard. LeMoyne-Owen won both exhibition games played against Philander Smith and Rust College.
• The Magicians were picked to finish 7^th in the SIAC Preseason Coaches' Poll.
• First year head coach Fagari Phillips has taken the job at LeMoyne-Owen after assistant coaching at the University of Memphis and helping lead them to their second trip to the NCAA tournament. Phillips coached at Vanderbilt University for 5 years before coaching at Memphis.