LIVINGSTON, Ala. – The West Alabama men's basketball bench posted 52 points, while limiting the North Alabama reserves to nine to defeat the Lions 97-79 in Gulf South Conference action at Pruitt Hall Sunday.

West Alabama improves to 6-5 overall and 2-2 in the GSC , while North Alabama falls to 4-5 and 1-2.

The Lions hit seven 3-point field goals in the first half and led by as many as 12 points on the way to a 44-39 advantage at the break. The Tiger defense responded by restricting UNA to only two 3-pointers and two bench points to outscore the Lions 58-35 in the second half.

West Alabama led in the paint 40-24 and finished 32-for-58 (55 percent) from the field; 8-for-16 (50 percent) from the 3-point line. UWA took its largest lead of 18 points down the final stretch sinking 20 of its 24 free throws in the second half.

"We were really disappointed in the locker room at half time by all the points we had given up," said UWA head coach Allen Sharpe. "That's just not us. We try to pride ourselves on guarding people and we did a much better job in the second half. We've focused more, over the past few days, about putting a complete game together. We've made strides doing that here tonight on offense and defense.

Charles Eaton and Justin Wright combined for 32 of the Tigers bench points. Eaton matched starting forward Lleon Tillman with 21 points.  Tillman went on to lead with nine rebounds.

Six Tigers in total hit double-digit scoring marks, with Khalil Carter adding 13 points, Jarell Byrd 11 and Deontaye Ewing 10. Carter shot 10-for-10 from the free throw line, while also tallying six assists.  

Brandon Herman led UNA with 21 total points; 14 in the first half. Nathan Spehr followed with 19 and Calvin Dade with 15.  

West Alabama men's hoops return to the road to take on Union University in Jackson, Tenn. on Thursday. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m.

"We have one more road trip this week, but we hope the home court advantage will still be good for us when we come back from the break," Sharpe said.