Carrollton, GA - Coming off of a huge last second home victory over the Mississippi College Choctaws on Thursday evening, the West Georgia Wolves remain at home on Saturday afternoon against another opponent from the state of Mississippi, as the Delta State Statesmen come to town for a crucial Gulf South Conference battle. The Wolves and Statesmen are two teams involved in a six-way tie at the top of the GSC standings.
Wolves at the top
West Georgia is second in the GSC in scoring through the first half of the conference season, averaging 87.3 points per game. Deonta Stocks also leads the GSC in scoring at 20.1 points per game.
Dortch on Fire
UWG junior swingman Marcus Dortch has the skillset to be able to take over a game offensively, as he can hit from long range as well as drive to the bucket. The junior has scored in double-figures in nine of the last 11 games, and in that span has had a career high five separate times. That includes Thursday against Mississippi College, when he hit 5-of-9 from three-point range en route to a 25-point outburst.
Trends beginning to show
Another trend that has been a part of the Wolves' season thus far has been scoring. West Georgia is second in the Gulf South Conference in scoring, averaging 87.3 points per game on the year, but shooting percentage is starting to become a trend for West Georgia to be successful. In games where the Wolves hit 50 percent or more of their shots, UWG is 8-0 overall on the year and 5-0 against GSC opponents.
Double-Doubles in 2014-15
The Wolves' lineup in the current season has not been the biggest in the history of UWG basketball, but West Georgia has been playing well on the boards this season. Junior Jovany Austin is the Wolves' leading rebounder at 5.9 boards per game, and he also all three of the double-doubles that UWG has produced this season. He had 23 points and 14 rebounds againist Point earlier this season and 17 points with 11 rebounds against Carver. Saturday against Valdosta State, he had 20 points and 10 boards in the Wolves' 10th victory of the season.
Double-Figure Scoring
There have been 64 double-figure scoring moments for the Wolves this season thus far, with Stocks scoring in double-figures in each of his first 16 games of the year, but he missed his first game last Saturday with a death in the family. Alex Abreu is second with 15 of the 17 games in double-figures. Jovany Austin and Emory Bernard have each had double-figure output in 10 games and Austin leads the team with three double-doubles on the year. Dortch has scored in double-figures in nine of the last 11 contests.
In the GSC
The second half of the season started very well for the West Georgia Wolves on Thursday, as UWG became one of six teams at the top of the conference standings. That will thin out some on Saturday afternoon, as four of the six will play each other. Delta State will play at West Georgia while Shorter plays at Union. Alabama Huntsville will look to rebound from a narrow loss to Valdosta State at last place West Florida. West Alabama is travel partners with West Georgia, so the Tigers will take on Mississippi College on Saturday.
