JACKSON, Tenn.- The University of West Alabama men's basketball team defeated Union University in dramatic fashion on Saturday night inside Fred DeLay Gymnasium by a score of 71-69, only holding the lead for the final 59 seconds.
Union held the lead for almost 37 minutes, only being overtaken by West Alabama with less than a minute to go in the contest on a Thaddeus Williams layup.
"The determination from the group to stay in this one and close it out tonight was incredible. The coaching staff as a whole is so proud of the guys for continuing to fight back," said Assistant Coach Jake Jobling postgame.
Parker Applegate opened the scoring for the Bulldogs with a 3-pointer just 46 seconds into the contest off an assist from Justin Debuck.
Thaddeus Williams and Caleb McGill answered with a mid range jumper from Williams and a turnaround jumper by McGill to close the gap to a single possession early.
Applegate was not finished from behind the arc, as he hit two more shots to give the Bulldogs a 12-7 lead with less than 15 minutes to go.
West Alabama could not find its shooting stroke outside of the charity stripe for almost five minutes as Union went on a 12-2 run. Williams ended the drought with a layup to cut the deficit back to within 10.
Maurice Dickson off the bench, brought the Tigers within striking distance with a layup to make it a one possesion game with six and half to go in the first half.
Union pulled ahead again with a quick 8-0 run capped off by a magical turnaround jumper by Ahmad Johnson to put the Bulldogs up by double digits, 36-26, with 46 seconds to go in the first half.
Kuran Garner hit a three to close the gap with 22 seconds to go but was answered by another Union triple at the buzzer by Johnson, setting up the Bulldogs with a 39-29 halftime lead.
Union picked up right where they left off at the start of the second stanza, opening on a 12-4 run in the first 3:30 to take a daunting 51-33 lead out of the break, its biggest lead of the contest.
Jaylen Lemons and Terry Durham led the charge on a quick 7-0 run to bring the Tigers back to within 11, only to be interrupted by another Bulldog triple from Jeremiah Littlepage.
Dickson pulled the UWA back into striking range with five points on a 12-2 burst.
In a span of seven minutes, The Tigers cut an 18-point deficit to four thanks to a 19-6 run that included knocking down 6-of-10 from the field and forcing five turnovers.
Littlepage and Dusan Djordjevic scored a quick three points to follow but were once again interrupted by a quick five-point scoring run from West Alabama to tie things up at 59 with 7:17 to go.
Garner and Williams took over in the last five minutes of play to score West Alabama's last ten points. Williams, who hit the contest's last three shots from the field, drained what would ultimately be the game winner with 59 seconds to go.
Union's final field goal of the game came from Johnson with 2:49 to go, as the remainder of the Bulldogs points came from the charity stripe.
After the Tigers struggled from the field in the first half with just 10 made field goals, they responded by shooting 15-of-28 from the field on 53.5% shooting in the second half.
Thaddeus Williams tied his career high with 26 points and also contributed 11 boards and four assists while shooting 64% from the field. Kuran Garner added 18 points on 50% shooting. Maurice Dickson added a quality 22 minutes off the bench, scoring nine points and adding three boards.
The Tigers wins inside "The Fred," for the first time since Jan. 16, 2021, advancing their series lead to 15-12 since 2013.
UWA advances to 10-3 overall and 7-2 in Gulf South Conference play. Union falls to 7-6 and 4-5.
West Alabama will close out their Tennessee road trip on Monday night as the Tigers take on Christian Brothers. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. in Memphis, Tennessee.
