LIVINGSTON, Ala. - The University of West Alabama Men's Basketball team fell, 83-73, to the Montevallo Falcons on Saturday in Pruitt Hall.
West Alabama (9-7, 5-5 GSC) did a solid job defending Montevallo's (11-4, 7-2 GSC) leading scorer Brandon Fussell, holding him 10 points under his average, but struggled to contain the Falcons' Derek Moore who scored a career-high 28 points to propel Montevallo over UWA at home.
The Falcons have been one of the best offensive teams in the conference this season and they flexed their offensive muscle early. Montevallo began the game 6-10 from the field, propelling them to a 17-9 lead early. A layup from Rasean Frederick halted the Falcons' momentum and sparked a 9-0 UWA run, giving the Tigers their first lead of the game, 18-17, at the 12:12 mark of the first half. A three from the Falcons' Derek Moore gave Montevallo the lead back before Thaddeus Williams tied the game after getting fouled on a three and making all three free throws. Tied at 21, the Falcons used a 12-0 run to take a 33-21 lead with 6:32 left to play in the half. West Alabama couldn't get their deficit back to under 10 for the remainder of the period but Marcellious Lockett buried a three with 28 seconds remaining to make it a 10-point game at the break.
West Alabama shot 36.4 percent from the floor in the first half while Montevallo shot 52 percent, led by Moore who scored 16 points on 5-5 shooting and 3-3 from three in the period.
After drilling a three to end the first half, Lockett connected on another to begin the second as the senior made it a seven-point game out of the break. Moore continued his offensive brilliance for the Falcons as the forward nailed his fourth three of the game to extend Montevallo's lead back to nine with 15:17 remaining. Moments later, Moore scored on back-to-back possessions for the Falcons, making it a 13-point game before two straight baskets from Williams and a three from Lockett got UWA within 10 once again. After cutting their deficit to back under 10 points, Montevallo's Jaylen Curry dismissed any attempt of a West Alabama comeback with a three-point play as the Falcons cruised to an 83-73 victory.
Lockett finished with a career-high 21 points along with four assists while Frederick, Jaylen Lemons, and Travion McCray all scored in double figures.
UWA will now begin a three-game road trip, beginning in Huntsville, Alabama on next Saturday for a 4:00 p.m. matchup against the sixth-ranked team in the country, the Alabama Huntsville Chargers.
