MUNCIE, IND - After dropping a battle of a conference game, the Delta Eagles (2-1, 0-1) bounced back and beat Centerville (2-2) 45-40.

The first half was slow offensively and sloppy for both sides, with multiple turnovers from each side. The halftime score was only 13-11 in favor of the Bulldogs. In lieu of the slow offensive start, both teams' defenses were shining.

Delta forced 18 turnovers throughout the contest and played a gritty basketball game. Head coach Mark Detweiler was pleased with his team's effort during the second of two games in 24 hours.

“Defensively, I like a lot of things we did,” he said. “We forced 18 turnovers and took five charges, both of those are key stats that coaches are pleased with early in the season. Those two numbers are huge. We had some toughness that, if we don't play a Friday night against a good Mount Vernon team, we probably don't have that grit tonight.”

Although Detweiler was pleased with his team’s defensive efforts, he knows more work needs to be done offensively. Especially playing as difficult of a schedule as Delta does in the Hoosier Heritage Conference.

“Offensively is a work in progress,” he said. “That first half was nasty. I thought we were hesitant and passed up some shots. So just playing loose on the offensive end is the next step for this group.”

Leading the way offensively for Delta was senior guard Cooper Bratton. Bratton tallied 11 points and was the evident vocal leader offensively. Senior forwards Bronson Edwards and Jordan Furney each had 10 points to aid in the efforts. Edwards, who played quarterback for Delta football this fall, transfers his gridiron physicality to the paint.

“Jordan and Bronson are who they are,” Detweiler said.
”They're a good one-two combo force. They made the plays they needed to in the second half to kind of get us some separation to win that game.”

Although Bratton, Edwards and Furney finished with double-digit totals, at the end of the first half, junior guard Lucas Bragg and sophomore guard Jackson Peters were the leading scorers with three points each.

Delta pulled away in the third quarter, leading 31-24 heading into the final period. Centerville was able to make it a thriller, getting as close as three points with under five minutes to go in the game.

“We just have to get comfortable closing out games,” Detweiler said. “The last thing I said to them tonight in the locker room was that we got a lot of new faces out there trying to close out a game. So we have to get guys comfortable in those situations. That’s what I think tonight was all about.”

After getting off to a slow start in the first half, Delta picked up the pace and began to rain down threes and hit more shots in the final 16 minutes. Detweiler wanted his players to take more shots and not be as hesitant to shoot the ball.

“We said at halftime, you're most open when you first catch it,” he said. “I told them to remember that when you catch the ball, you're probably not gonna be more open if you hesitate. I wanted them to just catch and shoot and stop thinking so much, they did a great job of that down the stretch.”

Delta’s offense created more opportunities to score tonight in the second half of the game. Delta dropped just two three-point shots in the first half, a blimp compared to the five dropped in the second.

“I thought we had more catch-and-shoot opportunities in the second half that we took advantage of. That's how we have to play, we have to play through that sort of passing and quick ball movement and our shooters have to do their job and be ready to make shots.”

Delta’s next game comes Dec. 13 against its crosstown, and conference rival, Yorktown. The Eagles and Tigers have a history of hard-fought contests. Full of defense and gritty plays, Detweiler thinks the next installment will not be much different.

“It’ll be what you kind of saw tonight in terms of the defensive effort,” he said. “Yorktown is gonna try to bring that same defensive effort and both teams have a lot of new faces getting comfortable, logging a lot of minutes now. It'll be a defensive battle, I think that everybody expects and just a matter of these new faces getting comfortable on both teams.”

The tip-off for Delta vs. Yorktown is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Dec 13.

Contact Logan Connor via email at logan.connor@bsu.edu or via X @_loganconnor

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