ROME, Ga. – Alijah Bennett scored the Hawks first 13 points of the game, as Shorter defeated Delta State, 83-74.

Bennett's 13 points came over a 10:40 span, but Delta State still held a three-point lead before Phil Taylor cut the visitors lead to one, 16-15, with 9:01 left in the half.

With their team down one, Damerit Brown, Taylor, and Eric Ross combined to go a 13-2 run in less than three minutes, giving Shorter a ten-point lead with 4:57 remaining until halftime.

The Statesmen cut the lead to four thanks to the play of Devin Schmidt, who is the Gulf South Conference's second leading scorer behind Taylor, who quickly answered with a three-pointer

The senior from Brooklyn, New York converted with 2:07 to play in the first half to make it a seven-point game before Bennett and Mike Wickliff extended the Hawks lead to double-digits.

Schmidt's field goal from beyond the arc with less than 30 seconds remaining sent his team to the locker room down nine, 38-29.

Delta State outscored Shorter by 14 over the first 11:19 of the final half, but back-to-back threes by Taylor, who leads the nation in points per game, put the Hawks back in front.

The Statesmen took a one-point lead with 5:43 to play and tied the game just one minute later. Brown's free throw broke the tie, before jumpers by Taylor and Bennett pushed SU's lead to five.

Delta State was unable to gain any momentum as late free throws secured the victory for the Hawks.

Shorter's 83-74 win improves its record to 7-1 overall and 1-1 in conference play. The Hawks are 4-0 at home thus far. Delta State falls to 6-2 and 1-1 in the GSC.

Taylor led Shorter with a game-high 30 points to go along with 11 rebounds. Bennett chipped in 17 points, while Eric Ross led both teams with 17 rebounds.

The Hawks were 28 of 65 from the field, while the Statesmen managed to hit only 33.8% of their attempts. SU held a slight 44-40 rebounding advantage.

Shorter will return to action on Saturday when Mississippi College visits the Winthrop-King Centre. Tipoff of the Gulf South Conference game is set for 4 p.m.