CLEVELAND, Miss. – The Delta State University men's basketball team (11-16, 8-14 GSC) will play in the 2026 Gulf South Conference Men's Basketball Championship Quarterfinal tomorrow night against the Tigers from the University of West Alabama (24-4, 19-3 GSC)
 
The game will tip off at 6:00 p.m. (CT) from Pruitt Hall on the campus of the University of West Alabama in Livingston. The winner will take on the winner of no. 4 seed UAH and the no. 5 seeded Valdosta State in the semifinals at whoever is the higher seed.
 
The Voice of the Statesmen will provide the call on the Statesmen Sports Radio network and on Majic 107.5 FM WMJW.
 
The two teams met in the regular season with UWA going 2-0 winning 67-51 in Sillers Coliseum on December 18^th, and 86-81 at Pruitt Hall in Early February.
 
Scouting the Statesmen.

• Delta State enters the Gulf South Conference Championship Tournament as the eight seed after defeating Mississippi College 85-77 last Friday in Sillers Coliseum. The Statesmen made the tournament with the win and the 89-81 Lee victory over the Union Bulldogs.
• Statesmen enter the GSC tournament as the top free throw shooting team in the conference shooting 77.4% from the Charity Stripe. While opponents are shooting a conference low 67.6 percent from the free throw line.
• The Statesmen have been led by redshirt junior guard Dacory Porter. The Jackson native leads the Statesmen in scoring, averaging 17.6 points per game which is fifth of any player in the Gulf South Conference. Porter added a spark in the second half, scoring 14 of his 18 points in the 85-77 win against MC shooting 6-9 from the field in that half. Porter also dished out four of his eight assists in the second half spark.
• Je'Marion Westbrook has provided a spark for the Statesmen in the past few weeks after missing a few weeks. The Marianna, Ark., native has averaged 19.1 points per game since his return against Union where he scored 29 points and grabbed seven rebounds.
• Last time out against UWA, Porter scored a season-high 32 points, shooting 11-20 from the field, grabbed four rebounds and dished out four assists.

Scouting the Tigers

• The West Alabama Tigers clinched the Gulf South Conference regular season championship and enters the post season ranked 11^th in the nation with a 24-4 overall record and are 19-3 in GSC play.
• The Tigers are the top scoring defensive team and rebounding in the GSC. UWA gives up an average of 64.1 points per game. The Tigers also average 40 rebounds per game and are out rebounding teams by an average of 9.9 rebounds per game.
• The Tigers have four guys averaging 10 or more points per game entering the conference tournament and they are led by Rasean Frederick who averages 12.9 points per game and grabs 4.9 rebounds per game. Frederick scored 17 in both contests against DSU throughout the season.