Box Score CLEVELAND, Miss.—The No. 10 Christian Brothers University Bucs opened Gulf South Conference play with a 58-53 road win over Delta State Saturday afternoon.

The first 16 minutes were back-and-forth, with three ties, three lead changes, and no lead of more than five points for either team.  The Statesmen (2-3, 0-1 GSC) took what would be their final lead of the game when back-to-back jumpers by Terry Leake and Mike Weems put them ahead 24-23 with 4:20 remaining in the first half.  Sidy Sall (Dakar, Senegal/Seeds Academy) answered with a basket to spark a 10-1 run to end the half, giving the Bucs (4-1, 1-0) a 33-25 lead after Ryan Fleming (Cincinnati, Ohio/La Salle HS) buried a triple with 34 seconds remaining in the half.

The Bucs stretched their lead to 11 points at 45-34 when Sall scored in the paint again with 13:37 remaining, but the Statesmen answered with a 12-4 burst to trim the lead to 49-46 with 6:48 remaining.  Triples by Trey Casey (Cincinnati, Ohio/La Salle HS) and Pat Graham (Bowling Green, Ohio/Bowling Green HS) bookended a Harry Green (Memphis, Tenn./White Station HS) layup to spark an 8-1 burst that gave the Bucs a 57-47 lead with five minutes remaining, and the Statesmen came no closer than four points in the final minutes.

Graham and Casey scored 11 points each to lead the balanced Bucs, while Sall scored 10 with seven rebounds.  Green and Michael Drake (Little Rock, Ark./Catholic HS) tacked on nine points each. 

Leake led the Statesmen with 17 points and a game-high nine rebounds.  Jack Madgen scored 13, and Cornell Knight added 12 with six rebounds and a game-high five assists.

The Bucs won despite shooting season-lows of 22.7 percent (5-of-22) from three-point range and 41.3 percent (19-of-46) overall.  The Statesmen shot 46.5 percent (20-of-43) overall and 41.7 percent (5-of-12) from three-point range.  The Statesmen out-rebounded CBU 33-31, but CBU grabbed 10 offensive boards to DSU's eight and forced 11 turnovers while committing just seven.

The 1-0 start in GSC play is the Bucs' third straight and their sixth in the last seven years.  The Bucs step out of conference play for their next four games, beginning Tuesday night at 7 p.m. when they host Trevecca Nazarene.