VALDOSTA, Ga. - The University of West Alabama Men's Basketball team fell, 87-64, to No. 11 Valdosta State on Saturday.

Saturday's contest was a tale of two halves as West Alabama (9-9, 5-7 GSC) struggled defensively in the second half, allowing No. 11 Valdosta State (16-2, 11-1 GSC) to shoot 55.2 percent from the field and 69.2 percent from three which led to their loss.

True Freshman, Elliot Tulip made his first career start on Saturday and the forward buried a three out of the gates right after Thaddeus Williams drilled a three of his own to give West Alabama an early three-point lead.  The Tigers did a much better job of handling the Blazers' full court press in the early stages of the first half, scoring 14 points in the first six minutes on 5-8 shooting and only committing two turnovers. UWA's early offensive success led to them taking a one-point lead before VSU scored seven unanswered points to put West Alabama in a 20-16 hole at the midway point of the period. Once it looked as though Valdosta State was beginning to build momentum, Williams, Tulip, and Travion McCray put an end to that and swung the pendulum in favor of the Tigers as the trio carried a 18-6 run to give UWA their largest lead of the half at 34-29. With 2:44 left in the period, VSU stormed back as the Blazers' Carlos Hart ignited an 11-2 Valdosta State run, putting West Alabama behind, 40-36, at the break.

UWA shot 46.2 percent from the floor and 44 percent from three in the first half while Valdosta State shot 48.5 percent from the field and 20 percent from three.

Two minutes into the second half and after a couple of West Alabama buckets, VSU went on a 19-6 run to take their largest lead of the game at 11 with 11:45 left in the game. At this stage of the game, Maalik Lietch came off the bench for the Blazers and caught fire as the Valdosta State guard scored 21 of his career-high 25 points in the second half. For UWA, baskets came from a combination of Tulip, Lemons, Williams, and Marcellious Lockett, but the offensive firepower from the Blazers was too much for the Tigers to overcome as West Alabama fell, 87-64, in Valdosta.

Tulip led the way with a career-high 14 points while Williams added 13 points.

West Alabama will now shift their focus to West Florida as they travel to Pensacola, Florida on Monday for a 6:00 p.m. matchup against the Argonauts.