LIVINGSTON, Ala. – West Alabama senior Justin Wright posted his career high of 31 points in his final home regular season game to lead the Tigers to 81-64 victory over Shorter University in Gulf South Conference men's basketball action at Pruitt Hall on Saturday. UWA improves to 18-9 overall, securing its most regular season wins since the 1997-98 season.

Both teams entered the game in three-way tie for first place in the league standings. The Tigers, now on their third four-game win streak this season, remain tied with Alabama Huntsville for the top spot with a 13-6 GSC record. Shorter drops to 16-9 overall and falls to fifth place in the league at 11-8 tied with Christian Brothers and Delta State.   

Wright's performance put him well over the 400 point mark on the season as he now leads the Tigers with 426 total points. The Pace, Fla. native had 19 points in the first half, hitting four of his five 3-point field goal attempts. He totaled 9-for-16 from the field and 9-for-10 from the free throw line.

"One thing we struggle with is shooting the ball form the 3-point line, so anytime we have a guy that can hit four in the first half, then that's going to really help our offense," said UWA head coach Allen Sharpe. "We were in a similar situation tonight that we were in Thursday, when we got comfortable after taking the lead. We did a better job tonight of maintaining our lead and playing a complete 40 minutes."

West Alabama never trailed in the game. The Tiger's field goal shooting remained consistent through two halves, shooting 13-of-27 in the first and 13-of-28 in the second. The UWA defense limited the conference's best scoring offense to 2-of-8 from the 3-point line in each half and outscored the Hawks 14-4 in the paint in the first half to lead 39-28 at the break.  

Shorter improved in the second half hitting 11-of-22 attempts from the field, but UWA continued to put pressure in the interior to finish with 32 points in the paint. The Hawks ended with 18 paint points.

"Shorter relies on the 3-pointer a lot, and we knew that would be the key tonight," Sharpe said. "They just made 11 three's against West Georgia on Thursday. We felt that if we protected the arc and take away the 3-point shot, then we would be able to keep their score down and give us an opportunity to win.   

Charles Eaton came off the bench to record 16 points; 13 in the second half. Deontaye Ewing followed with 14.Kenric McCants supported the attack with five assists, giving him 101 on the season.

Dedric Ware, the GSC's second best scorer, led Shorter with 15 points by shooting 5-of-13 from the field.

West Alabama still has three road games left in the regular season before moving onto the conference tournament on March 3. The Tigers first stop on the final stretch will be at Valdosta State on Thursday. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. (C.S.T.) in Valdosta, Ga.

"We still have a lot of work to do," said Sharpe. "We still have three games left and we are going to try and keep this thing rolling and finish on a good note, but we feel good about how we played tonight."