MONTEVALLO, Ala. - The University of West Alabama men's basketball team was defeated by the University of Montevallo 77-65 inside Central State Bank Arena on Wednesday night.
3-pointers were the name of the game early in the contest, as the Tigers and Falcons traded shots for the first 4:15 of play. Jaylen Lemons and Tyson Sexton hit two apiece, with Sexton's second tying the contest 9-9.
Lemons and Thaddeus Williams continued the 3-point frenzy with back-to-back shots to give the good guys a 17-9 advantage.
Aidan Gardiner got the Falcons back into the scoring column with a layup off an offensive board to close the gap to seven with 12:25 to go in the first half.
Gardiner's bucket would spark a 10-0 run for Montevallo as West Alabama went on an almost three-minute scoring drought, giving UM the slim 19-18 advantage with nine minutes to go.
CJ Melton answered the call for the visitors, scoring five straight points for UWA, followed by a slam from Maurice Dickson to add an exclamation to the end of a 7-0 burst.
Brandon Fussel led the charge to get the Falcons back into the game, scoring eight of the Falcons next 10 points to close the UWA advantage to 31-29 with four minutes remaining
Gardiner and Cam Glover helped the home squad take the halftime advantage with another run capped off by a Glover three at the end of the half.
Montevallo opened the second half on a tear, with Fussel and Gardiner continuing to make the Falcons offense go. Tyson Sexton gave UM a 47-41 lead with a triple going into the first second-half media.
Fussel was a man-possessed in the second half, only missing one 3-point shot on the way to scoring 27 points on 9-for-14 shooting, including 7-for-8 from three overall.
The Tigers found themselves within one possession again only once as Williams hit a three to bring the contest within six with less than 15 to go.
UWA would score the last six points of the contest, courtesy of Williams and Lemons, but it simply was not enough to catch up to the home team's large deficit.
Despite shooting 13-for-27 from the field in the first half, the Tigers only hit 10 of their 31 shots in the final 20 minutes, while Montevallo shot 13-for-24 from the field.
"We shot the ball about as well as we could in the first half, but we did not defend well tonight. The shots just kept on falling for them," said head coach Nick Woodruff postgame.
Thaddeus Williams led West Alabama with 20 points on 6-for-14 shooting. CJ Melton dished out a season-high six assists. Terry Durham brought in 10 rebounds, while Jaylen Lemons added 19 points and five triples.
The Tigers fall to 12-5 and 9-4 in Gulf South Conference play, while the Falcons improve to 7-10 and 6-7.
UWA will stay on the road and take on Auburn Montgomery on Jan. 24. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.
