LIVINGSTON, Ala. –  For the second time this season, the University of West Alabama men's basketball team has knocked down the game-winning shot at the buzzer as UWA's Jason Swanson drained a three-pointer to knock off North Alabama, 78-76, on Thursday night at Pruitt Hall.

UNA (8-8, 1-2 GSC East) took its first lead of the contest since the 14:35 mark of the first half on a Jared Strode jumper with 13 second left in the contest.  The Tigers raced the ball down the court before Swanson drilled his fifth trey of the season at the top of the key to give UWA (10-8, 1-1 GSC East) its first Gulf South Conference East Division win and its second-straight over the Lions since a win in the 1996-97 season and in the first meeting between the two schools in the 1997-98 campaign.  The Tigers knocked off Arkansas at Monticello at the buzzer earlier in the season on a Brandon Hampton breakaway dunk.

Both teams entered the contest averaging 7.7 three-pointers per contest, but they surpassed those averages as both teams combined to hit 25 three-pointers on 53 shots from beyond the arc.  The Lions finished 13-of-30 while the Red and White hit 12-of-23. 

UWA built its first half lead out double digits with under a minute left on a Richard Sirju trey before Swanson added a basket to give the Tigers a 39-27 halftime break lead.  UWA took its largest lead of the affair at 56-39 after a Hampton basket at 13:33.  The UWA lead dwindled down to single digits with 4:49 remaining.  After UNA got within a point with just two minutes left, Alquan Mendenhall stepped up with a key three-pointer with 47 seconds left.  UNA's Daviel Clements answered with a trey to trim the lead to 75-74.  

The game featured three of the top three scorers in the GSC and it lived up to its billing.  Strode entered the game as the league's top scorer and he finished one point off his average with 20 points. UNA's Rory Miller led all scorers with 26 points.  Swanson finished with 18 points and registered his ninth double-double of the season with a game-high 10 rebounds.  Mendenhall turned in 15 points on five made three-pointers while Sirju posted 14, 11 coming in the final 20 minutes. 

UWA will have a full week to prepare for nationally-ranked Valdosta State on Thursday, Jan. 21, in Valdosta, Ga.  Tip off is set for 7 p.m. CST.  The game will be carried on Fox Sports 104.9 and on athletics.uwa.edu.