CLEVELAND, Miss. – Montevallo men's basketball moved to 3-0 in conference play after topping Delta State, 89-81, on the road behind sharp shooting from the Falcons.
Delta State opened the game on an 8-3 run to force an early Montevallo timeout at the 17:11 mark of the first half.
Brandon Fussell added his second bucket of the day to end the run before three free throws from the sophomore cut the lead down to 11-8. Fussell scored the first 10 points for the Falcons with a lay-in off a DSU turnover at the 13:38 mark. Just two minutes later,
Camden Andrews gave Montevallo its first lead at 15-14. The Falcons opened a five-point lead at the 9:17 mark before the two sides traded triples for the next minute. With 6:32 on the clock, Andrews lifted the Falcons to a 10-point lead to cap an 8-0 Montevallo run. The Statesmen battled back over the next two minutes to trim the Falcons' lead with 32-30 with 4:12 to go. The Falcons knocked down six-straight free throws to close the half with a 42-34 lead heading into the break.
Derek Moore opened the second half scoring for the Falcons in his return to Cleveland, Miss.
Jaylen Curry lifted the Falcons to a 12-point advantage with a three from the corner at the 17:51 mark. The Statesmen cut the lead down to 49-44 over the next two minutes with 7-0 run before
Jay Gillispie snapped the run at the 16:09 mark. Sophomore
Tyson Sexton nailed an open transition three to push the Falcons back up by eight with 15:01 to go. Gillispie kept the Statesmen at bay with a putback at the 12:57 mark to give the Falcons a 61-54 lead. With 10:16 on the clock, Fussell nailed his fourth three of the night before Andrews' first three gave Montevallo a double-digit advantage with 8:21 left. Curry opened the Falcons' largest lead of the night with the 10
th Montevallo three-pointer of the night as Montevallo led 82-68 with 5:38 to go. Curry continued a hot night from deep with his fourth triple of the night heading down the stretch. The final eight points of the game came from the charity stripe, but the Falcons held on to continue a hot conference start.
GAME INFORMATION
Score: Montevallo 89 | Delta State 81
Records: Montevallo 7-2 (3-0 GSC) | Delta State 5-4 (1-2 GSC)
Location: Walter Sillers Coliseum | Cleveland, Miss.
GAME NOTES
- Montevallo shot a blistering 53.4 percent from the floor with a 45.8-percent mark from long range and an 88.9-percent clip from the stripe.
- The Falcons won the rebounding battle, 38-31, with the Falcons pulling down 11 offensive rebounds.
- Montevallo dominated the paint, scoring 34 points to 22 points from the Statesmen.
- Montevallo led for 30:42 and trailed for just the first 6:41.
- Brandon Fussell led all scorers on the night with 24 points on 9-of-14 shooting and 4-of-5 from deep to go along with four rebounds, three assists and three steals.
- Jaylen Curry finished with 18 points on 7-of-15 shooting and 4-of-11 from deep with a game-high nine rebounds and three assists.
- Derek Moore scored 17 points in his return to Cleveland, Miss. on 4-of-7 from the floor and 9-of-11 from the line to go along with seven rebounds and three assists.
UP NEXT: Montevallo heads to Clinton, Miss. on Saturday, Dec. 14 to take on Mississippi College in the final of a two-game road trip.
