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LaJuan Hardy
Trent Spruell | Trent S. Photography
70
Lee University LU 12-11 (9-6 GSC)
79
Winner West Alabama UWA 18-5 (13-3 GSC)
Lee University LU
12-11 (9-6 GSC)
70
Final
79
West Alabama UWA
18-5 (13-3 GSC)
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Lee University LU 33 37 70
West Alabama UWA 33 46 79

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Second Half Surge Lifts Tigers to Win over Lee

LIVINGSTON, Ala.– The West Alabama Tigers built as much as an 11-point lead in the second half which provided enough distance to help UWA go on to a 79-70 victory over the Lee Flames Saturday afternoon in Pruitt Hall in Gulf South Conference Men's Basketball action.
 
The Tigers improve to 18-5 overall and 13-3 in the conference while extending the season long nine-game winning streak. Lee falls to 12-11 on the season and 9-6 in the conference.
 
"The way we bounced back was really good. These are games you worry about as a coach," said Head coach Allen Sharpe. "Thursday night was a big win and emotional. It's easy to turn around on Saturday and have a let up. We talked about it a lot and our guys did a good job of just staying with who we are and having some consistency in our play."
 
UWA and Lee were tied 33-33 at the half despite the Flames shooting 60 percent (12-of-20) from the floor and 71.4 percent (5-of-7) from beyond the arc. However, the Tigers went on to outscore the visitors 46-37 in the second half thanks to a 70 percent effort from behind the arc in the final 20 minutes to come away with 79-70 victory.
 
LaJuan Hardy was once agains the scoring leader for UWA with 20 points along with nine assists, two rebounds and two steals. However, the junior guard had a season high six turnovers.
 
"LaJuan did a good job being coachable tonight," said Sharpe. "Knowing that you're going to play all 40 minutes is tough because you can get lazy and soft and you can think the coach has to have me. I jumped him about something, and he did a good job handling it. It shows maturity from him and in our team."
 
Charles Tripp went for 17 points and eight rebounds on 5-of-8 shooting from the floor including a 2-for-2 effort from beyond the arc.
 
"I think Tripp can really us. Having a one, two punch with him and Ricky in the post is a huge advantage for us. Having the bigs that can score the ball," said Sharpe. "We know Tripp has that in him and he played well offensively tonight for us. We needed every bit of it tonight."
 
Colton Blevins and Ryan Montgomery both scored 17 to lead Lee in scoring.
 
With the ninth-straight win, the Tigers move a step closer to locking up home court for the first round if the GSC Championship Tournament after clinching a spot Thursday night. 
 
"One thing that helps us with (the win streak) is that we have two or three guys that have some juice. They probably don't sleep at night and are just wide open all the time," said Sharpe. "You know LaJuan's got juice, Dre's got it in him and (Tavares Tolliver) is going to play hard all the time. We've got enough guys that have consistent effort and I think that's contributed to us staying with not just this streak but consistency in our play."
 
West Alabama has the chance to avenge the last loss with a trip to Christian Brothers on Feb. 14. Tip-off in Memphis, Tennessee is set for 7:30 p.m. in Canale Arena.
 
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