Defending GSC Regular Season Champs Open Friday at Home

LIVINGSTON, Ala. – The defending Gulf South Conference regular season champion West Alabama men's basketball team begins its 2022-23 season this weekend by hosting a GSC-Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Crossover Tournament at the newly-renovated Pruitt Hall Gym on the UWA campus.

"We are thankful that we get to open up in the newly renovated Pruitt Hall," UWA head coach Nick Woodruff said. "This is an exciting time in UWA athletics and we are always motivated to play in front of our home crowd."

Play begins Friday with the homestanding Tigers hosting Central State at 5 p.m., followed by Mississippi College and Albany State at 7 p.m. Sunday's matchups include Mississippi College against Central State at 1 p.m. and West Alabama versus Albany State at 3 p.m.

Admission is $5 and tickets may be purchased online or at the door. Children 5-years old and under are admitted free. UWA Sports passes will also be honored at the gate.

West Alabama finished the 2021-22 season with a 24-7 record and advanced to the NCAA South Region Tournament after winning the GSC regular season crown. Central State was 6-20 last season and comes into Pruitt Hall on an 11-game losing streak dating back to last season.

Mississippi College was 7-19 a season ago, while Albany State was 10-19. The Tigers and Mississippi College will not play this weekend since the UWA and Choctaws will face each other twice during the regular season.

"We are anxious to see how we look in a real game atmosphere where we will face adversity and tough times against two very good coaches and opponents from the SIAC," Woodruff said. "These are extremely important games to open the season with and we know we are going to have to play sound and disciplined basketball if we want to continue to improve early in the season."

West Alabama returns three players from last season's squad, guards CJ Melton and Justin Allison, along with forward Shardarrion Allen.

Allen was a second-team All-GSC selection, playing in all 31 games and starting 27. He averaged 13.2 points, 6.2 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game. He led the team with 167 field goals made last season.

Allison played in 31 games, starting 24, on the way to averaging 11.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.4 steals per game. He averaged 22.5 points, 2.0 assists and 2.0 steals on the way to earning a spot on the GSC All-Tournament team a year ago.

Melton played in 31 games, starting 11 while averaging 3.6 points and 3.8 rebounds per game.

Games will be available via live stream with Will Atkinson providing play-by-play. Tiger fans will also be able to follow the game via live stats.

Check out the entire 2022-23 UWA men's basketball schedule at www.uwaathletics.com.

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