LIVINGSTON, Ala. – West Alabama men's basketball held off a late surge by Union University in the final two minutes to win 74-70 and clinch a seed in the Gulf South Conference post season tournament at Pruitt Hall on Saturday.  

Both teams entered the game tied for fourth place in the conference standings. West Alabama (16-9 overall; 11-6 in the GSC) is now tied for second place with No. 24 West Georgia and Shorter. Union (16-7; 10-7) has yet to secure a post season spot at fifth place in the league.

"We are thankful to be in the tournament, but there is still a lot to do," said UWA head coach Allen Sharpe.

"There is a lot that can happen down the stretch with five games left. Hopefully we can build on these last two wins and keep playing well, because you want to be playing your best basketball going into the tournament."

Coming of his season best scoring performance on Thursday, Deontaye Ewing picked up where he left off posting 10 points in the first 10 minutes of action. The Tigers out-shot Union from the field in the first half, hitting 16-of-29 field goals, but the Bulldogs managed a 42-41 lead at halftime, making 8-of-15 3-pointers.

UWA quickly regained the lead in the opening minutes of the second half, maintaining it up until under two minutes left to play when Union tied the game at 68-68. The Tigers secured victory allowing only two free-throws by the Bulldogs in the final minute and hitting 3-of-4 of its own free-throw shots.

"We were upset after giving up 42 at the half," Sharpe said.

"That is not us and that is not what we are about. It was not a happy locker room at halftime, to say the least, but we did much better holding them to 28 in the second half. Union doesn't have much size and they are an offensively minded team. They like to pick up the pace, so it boiled down to us getting the stops. We did enough in the second half to win the game."

Kenric McCants gave West Alabama its final lead on a layup with a minute left, giving him 18 points in the game; 11 in the second half. All of McCants points came inside the paint as the Tigers led 38-16 paint points. Ewing finished with 16 points shooting 5-for-6 from the field and 2-for-3 form the 3-point line.

Charles Eaton matched Ewing's 3-point shooting percentage on his way to 12 points. Justin Wright finished with 14 and led the defense with eight rebounds. Jarell Byrd marked his season high of three blocked shots.

Corieon Pearson led Union with 15 points shooting 5-fo-10 from the field and 2-of-5 from the 3-point arc. The Bulldogs were limited to 1-of-4 3-pointers in the second half.     

West Alabama will remain at home to face GSC opponent Lee University on Thursday. Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m. at Pruitt Hall.