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Allen Sharpe. DeAndre Harper, Charles Tripp
Joe Chance
80
West Alabama UWA 23-8
89
Winner Nova Southeastern NSUM 28-3
West Alabama UWA
23-8
80
Final
89
Nova Southeastern NSUM
28-3
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
West Alabama UWA 31 49 80
Nova Southeastern NSUM 41 48 89

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Men’s Hoops Season Ends with Loss to #5 Nova, 89-80

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.– The West Alabama Men's Basketball team fought to the brutal end but ran out of time as the Nova Southeastern Sharks created enough distance to hold on to an 89-80 win and end the Tigers season in the Second Round of the NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Tournament South Regional second round Sunday night in Rick Case Arena.
 
UWA ends the season 23-8 in a year that will go down as the winningest season in program history. Nova, ranked fifth in the last coaches' poll of the season and the top seed in the South Regional, improves to 28-3.
 
"We knew coming into this game it was going to be a challenge. Nova is good and has a unique style to play that is very hard to play against," said Head coach Allen Sharpe. "It was obvious tonight that it was hard to play against, but I will say our team never gave up. Our team fought to the end. We had a great season. A lot of milestones and a lot of records were achieved this year."
 
West Alabama trailed most of the game and mounted a 12-1 run late in the game, but a late layup by Nova ended the comeback attempt.
 
One need to look no further than turnovers being the difference in this game as the Sharks swarming defense converted 20 Tiger cough ups to 29 points.
 
"I don't know if you have enough days to prepare for that press, especially with only an hour shootaround for practice on the day of the game," said Sharpe. "We can't simulate it. All we can try to do is have a plan and talk about it, have guys in the right spots and explain to them what's coming. That's hard when you've never played against something like that before."
 
Despite the press, UWA shot 54.2 percent (32-of-59) from the floor with eight made threes and 8-of-10 made free throws. 
 
Charles Tripp lead a spread-out scoring effort for the Tigers with 13 points. Tyrus Grayson scored 11 points, Acie Vance scored 10 points, both Ricky Dunnaway and Lajuan Hardy had nine points (Hardy also added team leading seven rebounds and seven assists), Darron Johnson and DeAndre Harper both scored eight and Jake Jobling and Chris Dudley both scored six points.
 
Mark Matthews was the unquestioned leader for the Sharks with 32 points, nine rebounds and four steals.
 
Tonight marked the end for several Tigers including Tolliver and Jobling who participated in the post-game press conference.
 
"If you invest a lot, it hurts more," said Jobling. "You always wish you could have one more game. We've been lucky to have a team that was all into and I appreciate it."
 
"Our team put a lot of hard work and sweat into this," said Tolliver. "As a team we really came together. We have a bunch of junior college guys, seniors that have transferred in from different schools. We we're supposed to be here. Nobody in the world thought we were going to be here. But we came together as one."
 
With 110 games, Jobling will finish tied with Will Cotchery for the most games played in UWA Men's Basketball program history with 110 games. Both players finished their UWA careers with a GSC Championship and a win in the NCAA Tournament. 
 
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