LIVINGSTON, Ala. – Thursday evening is a night West Alabama men's basketball player Alquan Mendenhall will not soon forget, as the Tiger guard shot 80 percent in UWA's 83-69 romp over Valdosta State.

With the win, the Red and White snap a nine-game losing streak to the Blazers who last lost to the Tigers in 2006. UWA now moves to 5-12 overall and improves its Gulf South Conference record to 3-2. Meanwhile, VSU drops to 7-8 and 1-4 in the GSC.

The 14-point win by the Tigers came in large part because of an outstanding second half shooting performance by the whole UWA team. Head Coach Mike Newell's squad made 17-of-25 from the field for a 68 percent shooting clinic in the final 20 minutes.

That second half added to an already stellar performance by the Tigers in the opening period. After Mendenhall made a three-point basket to start the game, West Alabama never looked back and never trailed VSU the rest of the way.

Building on a 45-40 halftime lead, UWA led by as many as 19 in the final stanza as the five-point deficit at the break would be as close as the Blazers could get the rest of the night.

The dominating win by the Red and White came in large part because of the scoring balance on the offensive end. Four Tigers scored in double figures, with junior guard Jared Woolfolk adding 16 and forward Ryan Fitch adding 11 to Mendenhall's 26.

Those 26 points scored by Mendenhall were the second-most of his career. His previous career high of 36 came last season against Concordia. With Woolfolk's 16, the O'Fallon, Ill., native has now scored in double figures in 10 of UWA's 17 games played.

Hoping to build on two-straight conference wins, UWA hits the road to face West Florida at 4 p.m. Sunday in Pensacola, Fla.   

Fans can follow the Tigers in every Gulf South Conference game by listening in to ESPN 104.9 or by logging on to uwaathletics.com.