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LIVINGSTON, Ala. - The University of West Alabama men's Basketball team defeated Delta State University inside Pruitt Hall on Tuesday night, 90-79, to clinch a berth in the Gulf South Conference Championship Semifinals on Saturday afternoon.
With West Georgia earning a come-from-behind victory at home over Union on Tuesday, the Tigers will face off with the top-seed Wolves in the semifinals on Saturday in Birmingham from the Pete Hanna Center on the campus of Samford University.
This is the third straight year that West Alabama will advance to the conference semifinals.
The Statesmen came out to an early lead less than three minutes in, with a Keithan Brooks triple giving the visitors a 10-5 advantage.
With DSU holding a 12-7 advantage, UWA caught fire, going on an 11-0 scoring run to take the 17-12 lead inside 12 to go in the first stanza.
Keithan Brooks attempted to stop the bleeding, hitting a triple that ended a nearly four-minute drought. However, UWA maintained the lead and picked up the pace thanks to Jaylen Lemons and Terry Durham, as they outscored the Statesmen 13-5 into the under-8 media to take a 29-17 lead.
Inside two minutes remaining in the stanza, Durham stretched the home team's lead to twelve, 43-31, with a strong finish inside.
Chris Terrell and Colby Horace cut the deficit to six, hitting back-to-back threes to take the contest into the break with a 43-37 UWA lead.
The Tigers electric night on offense continued, as Lemons and CJ Melton scored a quick five points to open the second half, extending the UWA lead back to 10 points, 47-37, with 18:42 to play.
Lemons' magical night reached a peak with eight minutes to go, extending the West Alabama lead to its largest of 18 points, 78-60, with a successful trip to the charity stripe.
Terry Durham reached a UWA career-high 26 points with an emphatic finish inside with two minutes to go, sealing Delta State's fate.
UWA never gave an inch in the second half, preventing the Statesmen from climbing to within more than a two-possession effort.
Terry Durham led the Tigers with 26 points on 11-for-13 shooting and grabbed ten rebounds.
"I wasn't ready to hang them up just yet. It's playoff time now; we got to keep fighting," said Durham.
Jaylen Lemons added 20 points on 7-for-10 shooting.
"We've gotten so much support from our community and the other athletics teams as well being here tonight. It's a huge blessing," said Lemons.
Kuran Garner contributed third 20-piece for UWA on 6-for-12 shooting along with a team-high 12 rebounds.
CJ Melton played all 40 minutes of the contest, securing 10 boards and four assists along with six points.
Thaddeus Williams added 16 points and went a perfect 10-for-10 from the free throw line.
"This group continues to fight through adversity and get better. It's great to win GSC playoff games, especially at home," said head coach Nick Woodruff..
West Alabama moves to 19-10 on the year, while Delta State concludes its 2024 campaign at 17-12.
The Tigers will travel to Birmingham on Saturday to face off with top seed West Georgia in the GSC Semifinals inside the Pete Hanna Center on the campus of Samford University. Tipoff is set for 5 p.m. Tickets are available for the semifinal game. Fans can go to gscsports.org/mbb24 for complete coverage.
