CLINTON, Miss. - The University of West Alabama Men's Basketball team picked up their first win of the 2024-25 season on Sunday, defeating the Central State Marauders, 83-59.

West Alabama (1-1, 0-0 GSC) thoroughly outclassed Central State (0-2, 0-0 SIAC) from the jump as the Tigers held the Marauders to 37 percent shooting and 33 percent from three while shooting 56 percent from the field and 50 from deep themselves. UWA also turned CSU over 14 times and out-rebounded them by nine, leading to their 24-point victory.

"Really proud of our group," said head coach Nick Woodruff. "That was a team win in every aspect. We had the quickest turnaround of anyone for the weekend and the guys stepped up today. They showed a lot of resiliency to come out and perform the way we did."

The Tigers fell behind, 7-5, early in the game, but that would be the only time they would trail in a dominant first half. Baskets from Rasean Frederick, Jaylen Lemons, and Thaddeus Williams carried a 14-3 UWA run, giving them a 19-10 lead with 9:25 left in the period. Moments later, Caleb McGill threw down two empathetic dunks that ignited the Tigers, leading to West Alabama building their largest lead of the half at 26-12. With the game in danger of getting away from Central State, the Marauders threw their counterpunch as a three from Chris Grubbs began an 8-0 CSU run, cutting UWA's lead down to six. A jumper from Michael McIntosh ended the Marauder's run and swung the pendulum back in favor of the Tigers as they took a 37-24 lead into the break.

West Alabama put together a masterful first half, shooting 50 percent from the floor and 50 percent from three while holding Central State to 29.6 percent from the field.

It was much of the same for UWA in the second half as the Tigers blitzed the Marauders to begin, behind four quick points from Frederick, a three-pointer from Williams, and bucket from McIntosh, pushing West Alabama's lead out to 46-28. From there on out, UWA continued to pour it on and kept their distance from Central State, getting their lead up to as much as 31 points. With about five minutes remaining, Coach Woodruff emptied his bench as the Tigers cruised to an 83-59 win.

Seven players scored in double figures for West Alabama, led by Lemons with a game-high 15 points. 

"We had a group that was really upset with the loss from last night," coach Woodruff continued. "We had a film session this morning and some tough conversations about our play and our guys bounced back."

UWA will be back in action on Thursday for their home opener when they welcome John Melvin to Pruitt Hall for a 7:00 p.m. contest.