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Wolves race past Blazers in home return

Carrollton, GA - It's been nearly a month since the West Georgia men's basketball team had a chance to show their skills in front of a home audience, and the Wolves took full advantage of their return home Saturday afternoon, upending rival Valdosta State by a 93-89 score in Gulf South Conference action.

How it Happaned: West Georgia led from wire-to-wire, opening up with a 5-0 lead in the first three minutes of the contest, but by the time a fourth minute had gone by, VSU was right back in the mix with four-straight points. That would be as close as the Blazers would come in the entire game, as a bucket from Deontre Brown sparked a 13-5 run from the Wolves put UWG up 17-9 with 11:41 left in the first half.

Brown was one of four Wolves in double-figures on the evening, scoring 11 in the game, which included an impressive drive down the lane followed by dunk which closed out a span of two minutes where the junior scored seven-straight points for the Wolves in the first half, putting UWG up 37-28 with 2:20 left in the first half. The Wolves continued pushing over the final two minutes, and with 30 seconds left in the period, UWG took a 43-30 lead on a pair of Boehn free-throws, but a last-second layup from VSU cut that to 43-32 heading tot he break at the half.

In the second half, the fans at The Coliseum were treated to a close matchup for the entire period, with each team hitting big shot after big shot. The Wolves led by nine or less for the final 15 minutes of the game, but VSU only made the game a one-shot deficit once in the entire second half. Alex Abreu was a dagger down the stretch, hitting 7-of-8 free-throws in the final minute of the game to seal the Wolves' victory.

The Wolves moved to 10-3 on the year and 5-3 in Gulf South Conference play with a resounding defeat of the Blazers, as UWG never trailed in the contest. Deonta Stocks and Jovany Austin each scored 20 points in the game and Austin picked up his third double-double of the year with 10 boards in leading the Wolves to victory. It was the second time this season that UWG has produced two 20-point scorers in a single game. Abreu was the fourth double-figure scorer on the day, hitting for 17 points in the contest.

What it Means: If the season ended today, the Wolves would be the fifth seed at the Gulf South Conference tournament, as there are now four teams in the GSC with at least six conference victories thus far. The Wolves still have four of the next five games at home, including two next week against teams that are a combined 11-18 on the year and 4-13 in GSC play.

Odds and Ends: West Georgia has produced three double-doubles this season, all by junior Jovany Austin ... this is the first double-double of the year against Gulf South Conference compeition ... the Wolves had 17 assists against the Blazers, with senior Thomas Higginbotham leading the way with seven assists ... that is the second-most assist total this season from an individual, as Alex Abreu had eight assists against Montevallo earlier this year.

Up Next: West Georgia has three-straight home games, including the VSU game tonight. The Wolves will play host to West Florida on Monday evening at The Coliseum at approximately 7:30 p.m. UWG will play North Alabama at the same time on Thursday evening to end the homestand.

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Players Mentioned

Alex Abreu

#21 Alex Abreu

PG
5' 10"
Senior
Thomas Higginbotham

#2 Thomas Higginbotham

G
5' 9"
Senior
Deontre Brown

#5 Deontre Brown

PG
6' 1"
Senior

Players Mentioned

Alex Abreu

#21 Alex Abreu

5' 10"
Senior
PG
Thomas Higginbotham

#2 Thomas Higginbotham

5' 9"
Senior
G
Deontre Brown

#5 Deontre Brown

6' 1"
Senior
PG
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