LIVINGSTON, Ala. - After sweeping their homestand, The University of West Alabama Men's Basketball team gets back on the road, traveling to Americus, Georgia on Wednesday for a 5:00 p.m. CST matchup against the Georgia Southwestern Hurricanes.

West Alabama (3-1) enters their midweek non-conference matchup against Georgia Southwestern (3-2) after a 93-55 win over Virginia Lynchburg on Sunday. As for the Hurricanes, they hold a one-point win over West Florida this year and enter Wednesday's matchup after a 82-72 loss to Barton on Saturday.

After dropping their first game of the 2024-25 season, UWA enters this week's matchup on a three-game winning streak. In their loss to Albany State to begin the year, the Tigers only scored 56 points which resulted in head coach Nick Woodruff making a rotation change. Woodruff inserted Rasean Frederick into the starting lineup, moving Caleb McGill to the three and Jaylen Lemons to the sixth man. Moving Lemons to the bench has shown to be a brilliant move as the senior has blossomed in the sixth man role. In his last two games, the guard is averaging 21 points on 54 percent shooting and 58 percent from three, jumpstarting a West Alabama offense that's averaging 88 points in the last two contests.

While Lemons has thrived off the bench, Frederick has been equally as good in the starting lineup for coach Woodruff's squad. As a starter, the Forward is averaging 10 points and seven rebounds on 58 percent shooting, including a career-high 13-rebound performance in UWA's win over Virginia Lynchburg. 

A lot of the attention offensively goes to Lemons, McGill, and Thaddeus Williams, but Elliot Tulip and Hugh Hargett have excelled in the minutes that they've been given to begin the year. Tulip and Hargett are neck-and-neck with Lemons as the best shooter on West Alabama's roster and have showcased that. Coach Woodruff burned Tulip's redshirt this past Sunday as the freshman scored 11 points off the bench in his first career game. For Hargett, he poured in eight points on 3-3 shooting and 2-2 from three. With how the bench duo of Tulip and Hargett played on Sunday, it'll be interesting to see if they receive a bump up in the rotation on Wednesday.

Georgia Southwestern is arguably the most talented offensive team that UWA has faced thus far this season as the Hurricanes average 85.4 points per game through their first five contests. GSW currently has five players averaging in double figures with junior Forward Josiah Shackleford leading the way with 18.2 points per game on 56 percent shooting. With his 6'9", 225 pound frame, Shackleford dominates the paint, grabbing 8.4 rebounds and blocking 1.8 shots per game. The junior comes into Wednesday's matchup with two double-doubles on his ledger, already in 2024, and will pose a massive challenge to UWA's Frederick, Michael McIntosh, and company. 

Outside of Shackleford, Georgia Southwestern's Justin Monden and Tim Hall Jr. are also off to great starts. Monden is a prolific scorer who ranks second on the Hurricanes in scoring with 16.2 points per game on 44 percent shooting and 43 percent from three. The guard is coming off his two best performances of the young season, scoring 25 points against Mount Olive and 27 against Barton on 50 percent shooting. As for Hall Jr., he's a forward that heavily impacts winning. The 6'7" sophomore is off to the best start of his career, averaging 14.4 points and 11.4 rebounds on 67 percent shooting through Georgia Southwestern's five games. The Forward has recorded 46 rebounds his the last three games, recording double-doubles in all of them, creating a dominant frontcourt duo with Shackleford.

Tip-off for Wednesday's matchup is set for 5:00 p.m. CST from the Storm Dome in Americus, GA.