MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The University of West Alabama men's basketball team was defeated by Christian Brothers University 67-46 on Monday night from Canale Arena.
The Bucs struck first inside the first minute of the contest courtesy of a pull-up jumper from Anias Futrell to put CBU on the board first.
The Tigers struggled to find a rhythm offensively early into the game, going 2-for-11 from the field inside the first 9:30 of play, including 0-for-6 from 3-point range.
The Bucs found the hot hands early, as Christian Jones and Christian Thompson led the charge on a 15-4 run through the first 10:34 of the contest.
Kuran Garner broke an over five-minute silence from the field with a deep jumper to bring the UWA within 10 with 10:26 to go in the first.
CBU closed out its first half scoring with a Jones layup to cap off an 11-4 Bucs run, only interrupted by a layup from CJ Melton to close out the half.
The Tigers finished the first half shooting 6-for-26 from the field and did not make a three in the first half of the contest.
West Alabama looked to turn the tide early in the second half as Jaylen Lemons opened the second stanza with a pull-up triple.
CBU struggled from the field early in the second half, as the Tigers found some life with a 6-2 run with 17:07 to go to cut the deficit to 12.
Christian Brothers responded with a run of their own, slashing back to a 19-point lead with a 9-2 run led by Madison Monroe.
The Tigers found some pattern to success offensively in the last 10:14 of play, only being outscored 19-18 by the Buccaneers, but would not be enough to close an already wide gap.
Jailen Anderson put the nail in the coffin with 43 seconds to go with a driving layup to give CBU the 21-point victory at home.
Anias Futrell led the victorious Bucs in scoring with 17 points on 6-for-8 shooting along with six rebounds and two blocks. Christian Jones lit up the stat sheet with 15 points on 6-for-13 and added seven boards and six assists.
The Bucs shot over 50% from the field, going 27-for-50 overall, while the Tigers struggled with a 16-for-52 performance, including 3-for-20 from downtown, their worst shooting performance since UWA's early season loss to Albany State back in November.
Jaylen Lemons led the UWA in scoring with 11 points and added eight boards.
Christian Brothers moves up to 7-6 overall and 5-5 in conference play. West Alabama falls to 10-4 and 7-3.
The Tigers will travel back home to Pruitt Hall to take on West Florida on Thursday night. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.
