CLEVELAND, Miss. – West Alabama overcame 11 lead changes and the score being tied nine times to serve Delta State its first home loss of the season in a 57-53 win in Gulf South Conference men's basketball action at Walter Sillers Coliseum Thursday.
West Alabama improves to 10-8 overall and three games out of first place in the GSC at 6-6. Delta State, who entered the game tied for first place in the league standings and ranked No. 17 by D2Sida, falls to 13-5 and 8-4.
UWA sank its first five 3-point field goal attempts to lead 21-17 in the opening 10 minutes of action, but a scoring drought in the ensuing eight minutes allowed the Statesmen to take a 29-23 lead at half time.
The Tiger defense held Delta State scoreless for the first four minutes of the second half to retake a 31-29 lead. After five more lead changes, UWA took hold of its largest lead of the game at 53-47 with 5:10 left to play. Delta State tied the game for the ninth time at 53-53 with two minutes left to play. A dunk by
Dakari Mayo and free throws by
Billy Ingram gave West Alabama its final lead and victory.
"The story of our team has been inconsistencies, and we've been waiting for that one breakthrough moment where we are the same team on the road that we are at home playing against someone we should beat," said UWA head coach
Allen Sharpe. "This sure can't hurt. Holding Delta State to 53 points has got to go a long way to helping our confidence. If we keep defending and hold teams like tonight, we will have a chance to win."
The Tigers finished shooting 21-of-54 (40 percent) from the field and 9-of-14 from the 3-point line (45 percent).
Acie Vance led with 16 points, scoring 13 in the second half, hitting 7-of-16 from the field.
Deontaye Ewing followed with 10 points, shooting 4-of-12.
Devin Schmidt led DSU with 12 points in the first half. He finished the game with 21 points, sinking seven of his 25 total field goal attempts, including two 3-pointers in the first half. Jack Madgen and James Kilpatrick each tallied 10 points. The Statesmen finished 19-of-57 (33 percent) from the field, including 4-of-21 (19 percent) from beyond the 3-point line. Delta State out-rebounded the Tigers 47-30, including 29-11 in the first half.
West Alabama men's hoops will wrap up a five game road swing on Saturday when it takes on Mississippi College. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m. in Clinton, Miss.
