MONTEVALLO, Ala. – A pair of Eckerd free throws with ten seconds left in the contest proved to be the game winning points as the University of West Alabama men’s basketball team dropped a 77-75 decision in the Montevallo Coca-Cola Classic on Saturday. After UWA’s Richard Sirju drained his eighth three-pointer of the contest to even the score at 75-75 with 13 seconds left, EC’s Wayne Sears was fouled by Sirju, sending him to the free throw line. Sears led the Tritons with 16 points. EC improved to 5-1 on the season while the Tigers had their two-game winning streak snapped and fell to 5-3 on the season. UWA put together a 48-point second half effort after being down 42-17 at the intermission. EC led by as many as 21 points with just under two minutes left in the opening half before taking a 15 point lead into the locker room. Coming out of the break, the Tigers trimmed the Triton lead down to 46-40 after a Sirju trey at the 16:26 mark. The contest remained in single digits until EC expanded the lead back out to 15 points, 65-50 with 8:20 left in the game. Trailing 71-61 with 3:27 remaining, UWA went on an 11-2 scoring run over the next two minutes to get within one point at 73-72 with just under a minute to go. Sirju scored 31 of his game-high 33 points in the second half to lead the Tiger offensive charge in the final 20 minutes. The Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-native connected on 10-of-13 from the field in the second half and drained eight three-pointers. Senior Jason Swanson posted his fourth double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 rebounds. The Troy, Ala.-forward added five more blocks on the weekend after posting four on Friday against Shaw. Alquan Mendenhall added ten points in the setback. The Tigers will turn their attention towards Fall semester final exams this week on the UWA campus before returning to competition on Saturday, Dec. 12, against Gulf South Conference foe Christian Brothers University. Tip off is set for 6 p.m. at Pruitt Hall.