CARROLLTON, Ga. – The University of West Alabama men's basketball team escaped with a 70-68 victory over West Georgia on Thursday evening. The victory is the first road conference win for the Tigers – who improved to 7-10 on the season and 2-2 in Gulf South Conference play. UWG falls to 9-7 and 1-2 in conference action.

The win – which is the fourth straight for Eddie McCarter at West Georgia – is the first conference road victory since the Tigers knocked off the Wolves 81-61 last season.

Ryan Fitch scored 16 of his 22 points in the opening half of play – the only player in double figures through the first 20 minutes of action – to lead all scorers. Alquan Mendenhall added 12 points while Richard Dixon chimed in 11 in the triumph.

Paul Mitchell provided late heroics in the contest as the Milledgeville, Ga. native hit the final free throw of the contest and also added a late steal for the Tigers to ice the contest. Mitchell finished the evening with nine points.

After the Tigers held as much as five-point lead in the opening minutes of the contest, UWG grabbed its first lead at the 14-minute mark. The Red and White answered with a quick scoring spurt and regained the lead at 16-15 on a bucket by Korielle Beavers. The Red and White extended its advantage to 29-21 – the largest lead of the first 20 minutes for the Tigers – on a jumper by Fitch.

West Alabama – which opened the second half with the first basket, a layup by Beavers – raced out to a nine-point lead with 12:16 remaining in the game. The Wolves worked the deficit down and at the 8:36 mark took its first lead of the second half on a Justin Cummings' jumper.

The two teams exchanged lead changes over the next couple of minutes but a 3-pointer by Mendenhall - with 3:23 left in the contest – put the Tigers up 69-64.

West Alabama returns to action on Saturday, Jan. 29 as the Tigers host in-state foe North Alabama. Tip-off is scheduled for 4 p.m. Live stats and video will be available at GAMEDAY CENTRAL on www.uwaathletics.com.

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