NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Delta State University Men's Basketball Team (17-12, 12-10 GSC) went into the Music City and defeated the Trojans from Trevecca Nazarene University (19-10, 14-8 GSC) 87-78 Tuesday evening in the Trojan Fieldhouse.
The Statesmen led for 35:26 of the 40 minutes behind three 20-plus point performances by
Kolby Horace,
Chris Terrell, and
Keithean Brooks.
To start the game, Delta State and Trevecca exchanged the lead four times and had three ties in the first ten minutes of the half before a Horace three with 10:35 sparked a Statesmen 20-3 run to pull ahead 40-23 with 3:10 remaining in the opening half.
Delta State would have a great shooting half as the green and white would shoot 50% from the field and beyond the arch pushing them to a 45-31 halftime lead. Horace would lead all scorers at the break with 17 points as he was 5-6 from the field and was perfect from beyond the arch shooting 3-3 from beyond the arch and went 4-4 from the charity stripe.
In the beginning of the second half, Trevecca would come out of the break with a 15-6 to cut Delta State's lead to 51-46 with 14:28 remaining. As the Trojans kept it close, DSU would answer as Brooks would attack the rim, helping the Statesmen score 24 points in the paint in the second half.
With 10:24 remaining, Trevecca would bring it to a one possession game for the last time as Delta State would maintain composure and keep a minimum of a two-possession lead behind 13 second half points from
Je'Marion Westbrook.
Down the stretch, Delta State would sign their ticket to Birmingham with a key three pointer from Westbrook off the ball movement beating a TNU zone pressure to make it 81-73 with 1:34 remaining. Westbrook would include two dunks in the final 1:30 to send the green and white to the GSC Championship Tournament Semifinals for the first time since the 2018-19 season.
The Statesmen will face against the one seeded Chargers from the University of Alabama at Huntsville Saturday at a time to be determined at the Pete Hanna Center on the campus of Samford University.
