LIVINGSTON, Ala. – University of West Alabama men's basketball head coach Allen Sharpe captured his 300^th career win with an 87-74 victory over LeMoyne-Owen College at Pruitt Hall on Thursday. Jahmal Lane led the Tigers with 21 points, shooting 8-of-9 from the field.

West Alabama improves to 2-2 overall, while LeMoyne-Owen drops to 0-4. Sharpe extends his career coaching record to 300-111 in his 14^th season as a head coach – his second year at the helm of UWA.

"This win means that I've had a lot of good players and a lot of years coaching," said Sharpe. "It's a culmination of all the players and assistants I've had. It's my wife, Susan's 300^th win as well, because she has been there for all of them. We will enjoy it for a while. 300 wins really makes the turkey taste much better."

The Tigers finished hitting 50 percent (29-of-58) of their field goals, shooting 52 percent in the second half. They posted 85 percent (17-of-20) at the free-throw line, while the Magicians combined for 75 percent (18-of-24). Lane sank all five of his free throw attempts.  

"I'm really pleased with the progress we made from Tuesday to tonight," Sharpe said. "Today we had a really intense practice and worked on ironing some things out, especially offensively. We geared the pace down tonight and our offense was much more efficient. We ended up scoring more points when we slow the pace down."

UWA jumped out to a 42-31 lead at halftime, holding the Magicians to 37 percent field goal shooting. The Tigers shot 48 percent (15-of-31) from the field in the first half, led by Lane who hit all five of his attempted field goals to tally 12 points in the period.

Although West Alabama improved from behind the 3-point arc in the second half, the Magicians led in 3-point percentage with 40 percent (8-of-20). The Tigers went from 3-of-12 from beyond the arc in the first half to 9-of-19 in the second.

Jake Jobling, the "Blonde Bomber", lit up the 3-point shot in the second half, sinking 4-of-6 and finishing 5-of-9 with 17 points. Deontaye Ewing totaled 12 points, shooting 5-of-6 from the free throw line.

Rashawn Brown led LeMoyne-Owen with 23 points, followed by Justin Street with 20 and Desmond Black with 16.

"I like the fact that we have depth. It makes our players better," Sharpe said. "It keeps our  guys competing and from becoming complacent because they know there's a guy on the bench ready to take their spot. It really felt like a team win tonight."

West Alabama men's hoops will return to action on Nov. 28 when it takes on Stillman College at home. Tipoff is set for Noon in Pruitt Hall.