LIVINGSTON, Ala.– The West Alabama Men's Basketball team steps back into Gulf South Conference play with a pair of road contests against the Valdosta State Blazers on Saturday and against the Auburn-Montgomery Warhawks the following Monday night.
The Tigers (8-3, 3-1) enter the weekend tied with four other teams for second place in the GSC. Last time out, West Alabama claimed an 88-58 win over Reinhardt University led by a season high 20 points from
Charles Tripp on Dec. 30
Josh Fleming serves as the Tigers' leading scorer for the Tigers with an average of 11.7 per game.
Ricky Dunnaway is right behind him at 10.3 and is the team's leading rebounder at 6.5 boards per contest.
LaJuan Hardy holds steady as the leading assist maker at 5.1 assists a game which is good for third in the GSC.
As a unit, UWA is averaging 66.2 points a game and holding opponents to a conference leading 61.3 points a contest. The team is shooting 42.4 percent (244-of-576) from the floor, 30.4 percent (66-of-217) from the three-point line and 68.2 percent (174-of-255) from the free throw line.
The No.9 Valdosta State Blazers lost their last contest on Dec. 30 to Emmanuel thanks to a poor shooting performance, .342 percent (27-of-79 from the floor and .222 percent (6-of-27) from beyond the arc.
VSU (10-2, 3-1) is part of the five-team log jam sitting at second place in the GSC with everyone trailing 4-0 Lee University. The Blazers were the Pre-season favorites to win the league.
Beau Justice leads Valdosta State with an average of 22.2 points per game while shooting 49 percent (94-of-192) from the floor, 43.8 percent (35-of-80) from behind the arc and 82.7 percent (43-of-52) from the free throw line. Three other Blazers average double-digits as Winston Morgan is scoring 14.3 points a game, Darrell Jones is at 13.8 points and the leading rebounder at 7.4 boards a game and Clay Guillozet is averaging 11.8 points and 6.0 rebounds.
The Blazers boast the best offense in the league with an average of 93.3 points a game while shooting 49 percent (402-of-821), 41.5 percent (139-of-335) from the three-point line and 74.6 percent (176-of-236) from the charity stripe. The defense ranks next to last in the league, giving up an average of 76.8 points a game.
Last season, VSU won the only meeting between the two schools 80-73 on Dec. 18, 2017.
The Auburn-Montgomery Warhawks enter the weekend 4-8 on the season and 0-4 in the GSC. In their last game AUM fell to GSC opponent Christian Brothers on Dec. 15, 107-87, allowing a conference record 24 3-pointers in the loss to the Buccaneers.
Carlos Bell serves as the leading scorer for the Warhawks at an average of 17.3 points per game. Darrion Taylor and Tre Hansbrough are both double digit scorers averaging 13.2 points and 12.4 points, respectively. Aaron Reddick is the leading rebounder at 8.3 boards per contest.
AUM is shooting 45.4 percent (323-of-711) from the floor, 36.6 percent (102-of-279) from behind the arc and 71 percent (152-of-214) at the free throw line which all combines for an average of 75 points per game. The defense is giving up a league worst 80.1 points a game.
The Tigers won two meetings with the Warhawks last year with the first coming in the Bamaha House Classic in Daytona Beach, Florida in a 91-77 final on Nov. 25, 2017 and the second coming in Montgomery, Alabama with a 107-85 GSC win for the Tigers on Jan. 27, 2018.
VSU Links:
Audio (ESPN 104.9)
Video (VSU Feed)
Live Stats (Provided by VSU)
AUM Links:
Audio (ESPN 104.9)
Video (AUM Feed)
Live Stats (Provided by AUM)
