Carrollton, GA - The West Georgia Wolves experienced a first in the 2014-15 season on Saturday afternoon at Fred DeLay Gymnasium in Jackson, Tenn., as the Union Bulldogs handed UWG a 95-87 loss in Gulf South Conference play, the first road loss of the season for the Wolves.
Winning on the road is never easy in the GSC, but up until Saturday afternoon, the Wolves had made road games look easy, winning at Delta State, Mississippi College and Christian Brothers in conference action. All three places are tough to win in, and West Georgia had never won in Canale Arena against CBU.
The first half could be broken down into two segments, the first 15 minutes against the last five minutes. In the first 15 minutes, it was all on the side of the Union Bulldogs, as Corieon Pearson scored 20 points and helped build a 41-28 advantage in that span.
But in the final 4:45 of the first half, it was the
Alex Abreu and Deonta Stocks show for the West Georgia Wolves. In that time span,West Georgia closed the first half with a 20-3 run to take a 48-44 lead into the break. But it was the final 30 seconds that proved to be a backbreaking type of run, as
Alex Abreu assisted on a
Marcus Dortch layup, then buried a three-pointer with less than five seconds on the clock to give the Wolves the four-point lead.
Heading into the locker room at the break, Abreu led UWG with 17 points, had four rebounds and three assists for an outstanding first half. Stocks was just behind with 14 points and both players had two steals. In all, seven of the Wolves' 10 players in the first half scored at least two points.
Coming out of the break, the Wolves looked rusty, as UWG had two turnovers in the first minute and a half of the period. In that time, Union went on a 5-0 run, retaking the lead for a short time, as the Wolves then went on a 7-0 run that put West Georgia up by a 57-53 spot at the under-16 timeout with 14:54 left in the game.
But the second half ended up being a mirror image of the first, as the two teams found themselves tied at 78 with 5:13 left in the game. At that point, Union got hot, and the Bulldogs outscored West Georgia 17-9 over the final five minutes of the game to take the Gulf South Conference victory.
Alex Abreu led the Wolves with 31 points, followed by Deonta Stocks with 20 and
Marcus Dortch with 10.
Emory Bernard led the Wolves with eight points and nine rebounds in the paint. Union had four players in double-figures, led by Corieon Pearson with 26.
West Georgia falls to 8-2 on the year and 3-2 in Gulf South Conference play while the Bulldogs move to 10-2 and 4-2 in GSC action. The Wolves return to the hardwood after the holiday break on January 3, taking on Lee on the road.
