Carrollton, GA - It's still a mudbog at the top of the Gulf South Conference standings, but the West Georgia Wolves took a huge step forward Thursday night in their bid to host in the first round of the GSC tournament in three weeks, taking down the Shorter Hawks by a 99-87 count at The Coliseum. The win moves UWG to 17-6 on the year and 12-6 in GSC play.
What it Means: The Gulf South Conference has changed the format for the 2015 GSC Tournament, as the top eight teams at the end of the regular season will advance to the tournament, with the top four teams hosting on "Super Tuesday." That will be Tuesday, March 3, and the Wolves ended Thursday evening in no less than a tie for first place in the GSC Standings with four games left.
How it Happened: Three-point shooting was at the forefront of the night, as the two teams combined to hit 23 shots from beyond the arc in the game. Shorter came out as the hot team in the first half, hitting 50 percent of their shots, including nine three-pointers. But West Georgia ended the game on a roll, hitting 51 percent from the field in the second half while outscoring Shorter 53-38 in the period.
Shorter nearly led from bell-to-bell in the first half, jumping out to a 5-0 lead in the first two minutes of the game and holding as much as a nine-point lead in the period. West Georgia took a small 28-27 lead in the period, but the Shorter offense was clicking on all cylinders in the period, and every time the Wolves would pull within striking distance, the Hawks would go on a run and push their lead back out.
With UWG trailing 49-46 and the clock winding down in the half,
Alex Abreu stole a pass and looked as though he might take a shot at another last-second heave that has become the norm for the Wolves just before the half this season. But Shorter cut him off at mid-court and spoiled that thought, as the Wolves went into the locker room trailing 49-46.
The tables turned at the half, though, as West Georgia came out hot in the second half, going on a 9-0 run to open the period and taking a 55-49 lead with 16:59 left in the game on a layup from
Emory Bernard. The Hawks clawed their way back into the game, though, and at the 12:22 point, Shorter pulled to within two points at 64-62. That was as close as Hawks would get the Wolves pulled away in the final 10 minutes and led by as many as 14 points down the stretch.
West Georgia outrebounded the Hawks on the night by a 42-38 margin, led by Bernard and
Taylor Cochran, who had eight rebounds each. The Wolves returned to five players scoring in double-figures on the night, led by Abreu, who had 25 in the game. Deonta Stocks and Jovany Austin each had 19, followed by
Zach Taulien with 14 and Bernard with 10.
Odds and Ends: The Wolves have outrebounded a team now just twice in the 2015 calendar year, picking off Delta State a few weeks back and then Shorter tonight ... three players were feeling extra generous on Thursday, as Deonta Stocks and
Alex Abreu each had five assists while
Thomas Higginbotham had six ... Stocks now has 941 career points at West Georgia and is 59 shy of becoming the 10th player in school history to break the 1,000 point mark.
Up Next: West Georgia finishes a four-game homestand with another critical Gulf South Conference matchup against the Lee Flames on Saturday afternoon. Tipoff for that contest is scheduled for 4 p.m.
