Delta State All-American Devin Schmidt nailed a pair of 3-pointers with 1:32 remaining as the Statesmen turned back a superb effort by the Lee Flames on Saturday evening in Walker Arena.
The Flames led 65-62 after an old-fashioned 3-point play by Chase Cullen, but after CJ Davis cut the lead to two points, Schmidt drilled a pair of treys to help seal the 72-68 victory over Lee. The win kept the Statesmen in a first-place tie in the Gulf South Conference. They improved to 12-3 overall and 7-2 in conference play. The battling Flames fell to 3-11 and 1-8 in the GSC.
Lee kept fighting until the end. Bryce Copeland cut the lead to 71-68 with his third 3-pointer of the contest with just over 31 seconds remaining. However, James Kilpatrick made 1-of-2 free throws to give Delta State their final margin.
"It was just a little too much Devin Schmidt," said Lee coach Tommy Brown after the tough loss. "He's just a tremendous player. Again, I'm proud of the effort of our guys today. We just had some untimely turnovers and they are just an outstanding ball club."
Schmidt finished the evening with 31 points, making 11-of-24 shots from the field and 6-of-10 triples.
Only one other Delta State player finished in double figures. Davis totaled 15 points, added eight rebounds and blocked five shots. "Davis is very tough inside," pointed out Brown. "He helped make a difference when we were able to stop Schmidt. Overall, I thought Bryce Copeland did a pretty good job on Schmidt. He's some kind of an athlete." Kilpatrick finished as the game's leading rebounder (10) as the Statesmen out-rebounded Lee 38-33.
Chase Cullen had his best effort of the season for the Flames finishing with 23 points and eight rebounds. Keevin Tyus and Copeland totaled 10 markers apiece, while Rico Overall finished with eight and Jervon Johnson seven. Johnson also had eight rebounds. Rantavious Gilbert, one of the nation's top shot-blockers, had five blocks in the loss.
"We shot well enough to win the game," (49 percent from the field, 40 percent from behind the arc) remarked Brown. The Flames were guilty of 16 turnovers and Delta State committed only 11. The contest was tied 10 times and there were 12 lead changes. The Flames out-scored Delta 32-16 in points in the paint.
Lee will have little time to regroup. Another very good team (Mississippi College) visits Walker Arena on Monday at 8 p.m. "It will be interesting to see how we respond after a tough loss," pointed out Brown. "We haven't responded well after losing on a Saturday and playing again on Monday."
