CLEVELAND, Miss. – After trailing by as much as 23 points in the second half Auburn Montgomery held Delta State to only 10 points over the final 10:08 of the contest but could not overcome the homestanding Statesmen, falling 80-74 in Gulf South Conference men's basketball action on Saturday afternoon.
NOTES
• AUM drops to 9-15 on the season, with a 5-10 mark in GSC play.
• Delta State improves to 10-13 and 8-7 in league games.
• The Statesmen complete the season sweep of the Warhawks, having defeated AUM 71-64 on Dec. 16.
STANDOUT PERFORMERS
• Junior guard
Desmond DeRamus tallied 18 points, five rebounds, five assists and three steals for AUM.
• Senior guard
Reagan Eubanks scored 14 to go along with four rebounds, three blocks and two assists.
• Senior forward
Kameron Hornbuckle posted six points, a team-high six rebounds and three blocks in 19 minutes of action for the Warhawks.
• Five Statesmen scored in double figures, with PJ Davis scoring a team-best 17 while Brett Warner tallied 16 points to go along with a game-high seven assists.
HOW IT HAPPENED
• DSU jumped out to an early 24-10 advantage, capped off by a Matthew Wilson 3-pointer at the 10:55 in the first half.
• AUM would cut into the Statesmen lead over the rest of the half, cutting the deficit to 41-31 on a
Darrion Taylor trey with 1:32 to play. DSU would respond with a three of their own moments later to take a 44-31 lead into the break.
• The Statesmen pushed their lead to 70-47 over the first 10 minutes of the second half, before AUM began its comeback bid.
• AUM would go on a 15-2 run over the next four minutes, cutting the lead to 72-62 at the 5:44 mark on a Eubanks layup.
• The Warhawks would go on an 8-3 run to pull to within 75-70 on a
Michael Bryant trey with :39 seconds to play.
• AUM would be forced to foul over the final minute of the contest and DSU would convert 5-of-6 free throws down the stretch to hold on for the victory.
INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
• AUM tallied six blocks in the contest.
• DSU outrebounded AUM 54-34.
• AUM's bench outscored DSU's 31-8.
• The Statesmen outscored AUM 38-28 in the paint.
UP NEXT
The Warhawks will be back at home in the AUM Gymnasium on Thursday when they welcome GSC foe #20 West Florida to Montgomery. This will be the second meeting of the season between the two programs, with AUM earing a 73-70 victory over then #13 UWF.
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