MONTEVALLO, Ala. - The University of West Alabama Men's Basketball team fell, 88-74, to the Montevallo Falcons on Thursday night. 

UWA (13-13, 9-11 GSC) struggled on the defensive end, specially with the Falcons' Brandon Fussell who scored a season-high 35 points to catapult Montevallo (17-9, 13-6 GSC) over West Alabama.

UWA began the game with Travion McCray connecting with Dadrevius Weathers on a lob before the Tigers fell behind. A pair of buckets from the Falcons' Fussell and a three-point play from Aiden Gardner put UWA in a 14-7 hole, seven minutes in. A couple of buckets from Thaddeus Williams and Elliot Tulip kept West Alabama within striking distance until a three from Montevallo's Camden Andrew's sparked a 13-5 Falcons' run that put the Tigers down 28-15 with 6:24 left in the half. At this point in the game, head coach Nick Woodruff called on Michael McIntosh off the bench and he proceeded to give the Tigers great minutes. McIntosh immediately put an end to the Falcons' run with a layup and followed that with two more baskets along with a four-point play from Jaylen Lemons. Even with the baskets from McIntosh and Lemons, UWA struggled to get stops which led to a 40-31 deficit at the half.

West Alabama shot 48 percent from the field in the first half but allowed Montevallo to shoot 50 percent from the floor and 40 percent from three, contributing to their nine-point disadvantage.

After a 14-point first half, Fussell kept pouring it on to begin the second half as Montevallo's star guard scored 18 points in the first nine minutes of the period, putting UWA in a 63-45 hole. Fussell continued his barrage, burying two more threes and broke the game open in the process. Towards the end, Jalil Robinson, Hugh Hargett, and Marcellious Lockett got into the scoring column but the Tigers went on to fall, 88-74.

Williams finished with a team-high 20 points on 50 percent shooting while McIntosh added 10 off of the bench.

West Alabama now shifts their focus to AUM as they travel to Montgomery for a 4:00 p.m. battle against the Warhawks.