Men's Basketball 12/15/2019 4:05:00 PM

Tigers Hit the Road for GSC Games at Shorter

ROME, Ga. – School is out for Holiday Break, but hoops lessons are still in session as the University of West Alabama women's and men's basketball teams prepare for Gulf South Conference action Monday night against the Shorter Hawks at the Winthrop-King Centre.

The doubleheader starts at 4:30 p.m. central with the women's game and continues at 6:30 p.m. with the men's game. Both contests will be broadcast on ESPN 104.9.

The women's team enters the matchup 5-3 on the season after grabbing an 88-49 win over Paine College on December 11. Currently, the Tigers are 0-2 in GSC competition.

Tazsa Garrett-Hammett leads a trio of double-digit scorers with 14.6 points per game on 51.1 percent shooting from the floor. She also averages 7.3 rebounds a contest. Bria Dent has been a double-double machine with five in seven games played for averages of 12.9. points and 12.0 rebounds per game. The freshman Naelyn Rios is up to 10.6 points a night.

The team's defense leads the GSC in 49.3 points allowed a game and coupled with a scoring average of 74.8 points, the Tigers lead in scoring margin at 25.4 points a game.

The Lady Hawks are 0-6 overall and 0-1 in the conference. They suffered an 81-55 loss to Tuskegee last time out on December 7.

Jasmine Gaines leads Shorter with 17.2 points a game and Tatum Ragsdale leads on the boards with 5.7 rebounds per contest.

The Tigers won a non-conference matchup between the two teams 73-48 back on November 20 in Pruitt Hall Gymnasium.

On the men's side, UWA comes in 7-2 overall after grabbing an 85-45 win over Paine College last Wednesday. The team is currently 1-1 in the GSC.

LaJuan Hardy is scoring 17.3 points and leads the league in both assists (6.4) and steals (2.8) per game. Darron Johnson is scoring 17.2 points while Ricky Dunnaway is at 13.4 points and 6.4 rebounds per game. Mike Davis is the leading man on the boards at 6.4 rebounds a game.

UWA's defense leads all of NCAA Division II in points allowed average at 52.2 points per game. Thanks to scoring 75.4 points per contest, the team leads the GSC in scoring margin at 23.2 points a game.

Shorter is 3-6 overall and 0-1 in the conference. Last time out on December 10, the Hawks grabbed a 73-54 win over Fort Valley State at home.

The team features four double-digit scorers led by Bryan Polanco at 16.1 points a game and he's also the leading rebounder at 7.0 boards a game. Jay Shropshire is averaging 13.8, Ja'Cori Wilson at 12.0 and Ricky Knight, Jr. is scoring 10.0 points per game.

Print Friendly Version

Players Mentioned

#23 Ricky Dunnaway: F; 6' 8"; Senior

#1 LaJuan Hardy: G; 5' 11"; Senior

#11 Darron Johnson: G; 6' 2"; Senior

#2 Bria Dent: G; 5' 9"; Sophomore

#1 Tazsa Garrett-Hammett: G/F; 5' 11"; Junior

#3 Naelyn Rios: G; 5' 6"; Freshman

#0 Mike Davis: F; 6' 7"; Senior

Players Mentioned

#23 Ricky Dunnaway
: 6' 8"; Senior
: F

#1 LaJuan Hardy
: 5' 11"; Senior
: G

#11 Darron Johnson
: 6' 2"; Senior
: G

#2 Bria Dent
: 5' 9"; Sophomore
: G

#1 Tazsa Garrett-Hammett
: 5' 11"; Junior
: G/F

#3 Naelyn Rios
: 5' 6"; Freshman
: G

#0 Mike Davis
: 6' 7"; Senior
: F