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Ricky Dunnaway
Trent Spruell | Trent S. Photography
79
Winner West Alabama UWA 21-6, 16-4 GSC
77
Mississippi College MC 7-18, 4-16 GSC
Winner
West Alabama UWA
21-6, 16-4 GSC
79
Final
77
Mississippi College MC
7-18, 4-16 GSC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 OT 1 F
West Alabama UWA 31 38 10 79
Mississippi College MC 33 36 8 77

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Tigers Clinch Share of GSC Championship in OT Win over MC

CLINTON, Miss.– It was the appropriate ending to a season full of tight battles as the West Alabama Tigers won in overtime 79-77 against the Mississippi College Choctaws to claim their share of the Gulf South Conference Men's Basketball Regular Season Championship Thursday night in the A.E. Wood Coliseum.
 
UWA finishes the regular season 21-6 overall and 16-4 in the GSC. MC ends its year 7-18 on the season and 4-16 in league play.
 
"Just the way that whole thing ended there. It's good. It's really good," said Allen Sharpe. "It's like now what? Know what do you do? They say it's all about the journey, but a gutsy win there to win it overtime. We didn't have Josh (Fleming) most of the game. We did have (Charles) Tripp or Ricky Dunnaway in the first half at all. We didn't necessarily play well, but we did well enough to win the game."
 
The Tigers trailed 33-31 at the half due to foul trouble and offensive struggles, however UWA would go up by as much as 12 in the second half before the Choctaws rallied to force OT. From there the Tigers held steady to outscore MC 10-8 in the extra period to grab the 79-77 victory.
 
LaJuan Hardy finished with 22 points and eight assists to lead the Tigers.
 
"There was a stretch there in the second half he did it for us, made several shots and hit some threes. He kind of single handedly gave us breathing room even though the game got back close again there at the end," said Sharpe. "He's got to play well. We won this game without Josh, but there's no secret to it. Offensively, they have to be really good if we have a chance to win."
 
Tyrus Grayson and Dunnaway both scored 14 while Jake Jobling added 10 points. DeAndre Harper led the Tigers on the boards with eight rebounds.
 
Brandon Boston scored 19 to lead MC.
 
West Alabama now looks forward to March 5 and the first round of the GSC Men's Basketball Championship Tournament. The second seeded Tigers will face the #7 seed Lee for the third time this season.
 
'It's hard to beat a team one time, much less three." Said Sharpe. "Let's use this to our advantage. You would think they would have some doubt coming into our place. Hopefully it'll be promoted, and we'll have a good crowd and make it a good environment for our guys to give them the best chance of winning. Let's make a run, take advantage of home court and get a chance to go to Birmingham."
 
Tipoff in Pruitt Hall Gymnasium will be at 7 p.m. Tickets are $10 for adults and $3 for students. UWA students can get in free with a valid student ID. Tickets can be purchased at the door the night of the game.
 
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