Carrollton, GA - If the first half were any indication, it might have been a rough night on Thursday for the West Georgia Wolves at The Coliseum. But fortunately for the UWG faithful, the second half was an exact opposite, as the Wolves used a 55-38 run in the second half to power past the North Alabama Lions, 92-85 in Gulf South Conference men's basketball action.
The win puts the Wolves in a three-way tie at the top of the Gulf South Conference standings, as UWG, Alabama Huntsville, and Delta State all have 7-3 records heading into the final weekend of the first half of conference play. Five West Georgia players scored in double-figures on the evening, including a new phenomenon for the Wolves as two players scored 20 points for the fourth time this season.
But things started off very slowly for the Wolves, as North Alabama opened up a 14-6 lead in the first four minutes of the contest, then stretched that advantage to as much as a 13-point lead with 12:58 left in the opening period. At that point, the Wolves fired back with an 8-0 run to get back into the game, but the Lions kept UWG at bay for the most part for the remainder of the period.
In that 12 minute time-span, West Georgia cut the UNA lead to as few as 12 points, but the Lions scored the final four points of the period to push their lead back out to 45-37 at the half. North Alabama shot 56 percent in the first half while the Wolves hit just 36 percent of their shots.
But the tale of two halves began early in the second, as
Alex Abreu and
Emory Bernard got hot in the second period. Each had 20 points for the game and they combined for 29 points in the second half alone. Abreu was 3-for-6 from three-point range and scored 15 while leading the fast-paced UWG offense to a 55.1 shooting percentage in the second half.
West Georgia cut the UNA lead to just one in the first four minutes of the half, then a jumper from Deonta Stocks marked the first tie of the game at 55-55 with 15:36 left in the contest. Over the next three minutes, North Alabama again held the Wolves at bay, but a
Marcus Dortch layup and subsequent three-pointer sparked an 9-0 run that would but the Wolves ahead for good at 68-60 with 10:35 left.
From that point on, the Lions would get no closer than five points for the rest of the contest and trailed by as many as 10 points multiple times in the final 10 minutes of the game. As has become the custom, Abreu made sure that North Alabama would not catch the Wolves in the final minute, hitting 3-of-4 from the free-throw line. The senior from Puerto Rico is now 9-of-11 at the free-throw line in the final minute of the last two games combined.
In addition to Abreu and Bernard scoring 20, Dortch poured in 15 that included a pair of spectacular dunks.
Taylor Cochran had 13 and Deonta Stocks continued his streak of 40 straight games with double-figure scoring after putting up 11 against the Lions.
West Georgia moves to 12-3 on the season and 7-3 in Gulf South Conference play. The Wolves will head to Livingston, AL on Saturday to take on the West Alabam Tigers in the final game of the first half of the Gulf South Conference schedule for both teams.
