CLINTON, Miss. - The University of West Alabama Men's Basketball team dropped their season opener, 59-56, to Albany State on Saturday night.
West Alabama (0-1, 0-0 GSC) struggled offensively in the second half, shooting 37 percent from the field and 33 percent from three which ultimately led to their three-point loss to Albany State (1-0, 0-0 SIAC).
The Tigers jumped out of the gates fast as threes from Marcellious Lockett, Thaddeus Williams, and Jaylen Lemons propelled UWA to a 17-6 lead, seven minutes in. After marching out to an eleven-point lead, West Alabama's offense cooled off a bit while Albany State's heated up, leading to a 7-0 Golden Rams' run that cut the Tigers lead down to four. Buckets from Lemons and Michael McIntosh built UWA's lead back up to eight before ASU responded once more, scoring eight unanswered points to tie the game at 26 with 2:50 left to play in the half.
For the remainder of the period, both teams lived at the charity stripe as West Alabama went into the break with a 32-31 lead.
West Alabama shot 57.1 percent from the field and 50 percent from three in the first half while Albany State shot 52.4 percent and 40 percent from three, resulting in a one-point game after 20 minutes of play.
The first 10 minutes of the second half mirrored the end of the first period as both teams traded buckets until Albany State started to take control of the game. Led by Blaise Wallace, the Golden Rams went on a 13-2 run to take a 57-48 lead with 5:05 left to play. The Tigers couldn't get anything going on the offensive end of the floor until Caleb McGill buried a three that ended Albany State's run, cutting UWA's deficit to 57-51 at the final media timeout of the game. With 3:30 left to play, the Tigers cut deeper into the Golden Rams' lead as a floater from Williams and a three from Lockett made it a 59-56 game with 45 seconds left. On the next possession, Lockett drew a massive charge, giving the Tigers a chance to send the game into overtime. Lockett and Lemons both had clean looks at game-tying threes but neither one dropped as UWA fell, 59-56.
Lockett led the way with a game-high 13 points while Lemons and McGill both added 10 a piece.
West Alabama will end opening weekend on Sunday with a 4:00 p.m. matchup against Central State.
