The Flames were up 36-27 at the half and held a 13-point lead in the second stanza before the Statesmen came back to post a 71-65 victory.
 

"Things just didn't go our way in the second half," said coach Tommy Brown. "In that one stretch, turnovers and offensive rebounds spelled the difference. Fatigue might have played a role in the loss as Rico Overall went out with a possible broken foot and Levi Woods and Stephan Burrows fouled out of the game."

However, Brown gave Delta State plenty of praise. "They are a veteran team that is well coached. They are a very tough team to beat especially when they are at home."

After the Flames controlled the action for the majority of the contest, the Statesmen gained their first lead with 7:26 remaining, 51-50. Turnovers helped Delta increase their lead to 59-51 and by that time Lee was in deep trouble. 

Chase Cullen paced a balanced Lee scoring attack with 14 points. Levi Woods followed with 12 points and led his team in rebounds with seven. Cam Boyd came off the bench and drilled four 3-pointers to finish with 12 markers, while Stephan Burrows had nine points and six rebounds before leaving with five fouls.

Lee turned the basketball over only eight times in the first half but finished the contest with 20 floor mistakes. The rebounding margin almost went in favor of Delta in the second half and Lee finished with only a four-point margin in that department, 39-35.

For the game the Flames shot 47 percent from the field but were able to convert just 5-of-17 treys and 6-of-12 free throw attempts.

The Statesmen rode the scoring of All-American Devin Schmidt. After being held partially in tack for the first 20 minutes, Schmidt finished the game with 35 points. PJ Davis was the only other Delta player in double-figure scoring. He finished with 10.

Lee will return to action on Tuesday and face Hiwassee during Senior Night in a non-conference game. They will finish Gulf South play next Thursday at Shorter University.