LIVINGSTON, Ala. – The University of West Alabama men's basketball team fell 60-50 in a tightly contested affair on Thursday evening to Georgia Southwestern. The Tigers fall to 5-8 on the season while GSW improves to 7-3.

Ryan Fitch posted a team-best 13 points – the second time the sophomore forward has the Red and White in scoring on the year. The Birmingham, Ala. native tallied 12 points in a loss at Jacksonville State on Nov. 13. Korielle Beavers and Alquan Mendenhall paced the Tigers on the glass with six rebounds. It marks the fourth consecutive outing that Beavers has held at least a share of the team-lead in rebounds and is the first for Mendenhall.

A back and forth affair much of the first half, GSW gained the upper hand with 4:31 remaining before the break on a Jamon Hawkins layup – putting the Hurricanes up 22-21. An old fashioned, three-point conversion by Evan Mobley extended the Blue and Gold lead to 25-21.

The Tigers cut the lead back to one point on a couple of occasions but a Phillip Brown jumper put the 'Canes up 29-26 with 26 seconds remaining before the half. After four straight fouls, Mendenhall hit a 3-pointer as time expired in the opening stanza to send the two teams into the locker room knotted at 29.

GSW opened the second half on a 15-6 – taking its first double digit lead of the game at 44-34 before reaching its largest advantage - 12 points - with 11 minutes to play. The Tigers chipped away at the deficit – eventually pulling the lead under double digits on a jumper by Ibrahim Appiah with 6:32 left in the contest.

After Hawkins hit the front end of a pair of free throws, Mendenhall came down the floor to hit a trey and Fitch slammed home a dunk to pull the Red and White within four points at 54-50. The margin would the closest the Tigers would pull the remainder of the way as GSW hit six straight shots from the charity stripe to ice the contest and give the 'Canes the 10-point win.

Brown led all scorers with 22 points in the game and pulled down 14 boards to lead the 'Canes.

West Alabama returns to action on Saturday, Jan. 15 as the Tigers host Lambuth in the first game of conference play. Tip-off is slated for 4 p.m.