AMERICUS, Ga. - The University of West Alabama Men's Basketball team suffered their second loss of the season on Wednesday, falling 69-66 to Georgia Southwestern in the Storm Dome.
UWA (3-2) struggled to find their offensive rhythm, shooting 36.5 percent from the floor and 29.4 percent from three, resulting in their three-point loss to Georgia Southwestern (4-2).
West Alabama controlled majority of the first half, by consistently getting to the free throw line. The Tigers shot 10/12 from the line in the period, led Marcellious Lockett and Thaddeus Williams who both got to the charity stripe four times. Georgia Southwestern started fast, scoring the first five points of the game before UWA countered with a 6-0 run to take a one-point lead into the first media timeout. A couple of minutes later, head coach Nick Woodruff inserted Dadrevius Weathers off the bench and the junior forward quickly made an impact. With Weathers in the game, the Tigers took their largest lead of the half at 10 until the Hurricanes made a run before halftime. Down 10, GSW's leading scorer Josiah Shackleford got the Hurricanes going offensively and carried a 16-9 Georgia Southwestern run to make it a three-point game with 2:42 left in the half. For the remainder of the period, the teams traded buckets as West Alabama took a 33-30 lead into the break.
UWA shot 35.5 percent from the floor and 16.7 percent from three in the first half while GSW shot 44 percent and 33 percent from three.
The Hurricanes scored the first four points in the second half to take a 34-33 lead, marking their first lead since the 17:50 mark of the first half. After falling behind by one, Lockett erupted for the Tigers, scoring 10 points over the next four and a half minutes, giving UWA a 45-36 lead. West Alabama kept their lead around 10 for the next seven minutes with a three from Caleb McGill giving the Tigers their largest lead of the night at 63-52 with 6:59 left to play. On Georgia Southwestern's next possession, Lars Nilsen buried a three that changed the complexity of the game. Nilsen's three sparked a 13-0 Hurricanes run, giving GSW a one-point lead with 1:59 to play. On the Tigers' next possession, Williams got to the free throw line and knocked down both to retake the lead before Georgia Southwestern's Shackleford scored on the other end to put UWA back down by one. Down one with 29 seconds left to play, Weathers missed a layup, forcing West Alabama to play the foul game, sending the Hurricanes' Justin Monden to the line where he knocked down both to make it a three-point game. With a chance to force overtime, McGill missed the game-tying three at the buzzer as UWA fell 69-66 in the Storm Dome.
Lockett led the way with 19 points on 60 percent shooting and 66 percent from three while Lemons and Weathers both added 11 off the bench.
West Alabama will now get 10 days off before they return to action on Saturday, November 30 for a non-conference home matchup against Webster at 2:00 p.m.
