It was a tale of two halves on Saturday afternoon for the Panthers, as they went into the break leading by 12 against Delta State, before being outscored 48-27 in the second half en-route to a 71-62 loss.
Delta State moves to 3-10 (2-8 GSC), while Wesleyan falls to 6-6 (2-2 G-MAC).
Wesleyan started out strong, going up 14-7 early thanks to back-to-back buckets from Jordan Roland and Ben Sisson. The Panthers then extended their lead to double-digits a few minutes later thanks to a three from Kennedy Miles, making it a 23-12 KWC lead. After the Statesmen cut the lead to seven late in the half, Antonio Thomas made a layup and Jordan Roland hit back-to-back threes to give Wesleyan their largest lead of the half at 35-20. Delta State made some free throws late and the Panthers led 35-23 at the break.
The Statesmen opened the second half with a bucket, which was quickly followed by a three from Edward Jones Jr., Roland and JoMel Boyd hit a few buckets early in the half to keep the double-digit lead, but the Statesmen started to chip away. Thanks to a cold spell from the Panthers, Delta State took a 51-49 lead on a three with 7:49 left in the contest. Wesleyan took their last lead with five minutes left in the game, but Delta State closed on a 16-6 run to put the game away.
Wesleyan shot 26-55 (47.3%) from the field and 10-24 (41.7%) from three. Delta State shot 22-53 (41.5%) from the field and 12-30 (40%) from behind the arc. Free throws were the difference in the contest, as Delta State went 15-23 from the charity stripe while Wesleyan failed to hit any of their three attempts in the game.
Jordan Roland (16) and Edward Jones Jr. (13) each scored in double-figures for the Panthers. Antonio Thomas led with six rebounds, while Roland led with six assists.
The Panthers will look to bounce back next week when they host Walsh on Thursday in G-MAC action. Tipoff is set for 7:45 p.m. at the Owensboro Sportscenter.
