CARROLLTON, Ga. - For the third time this season, the West Georgia Wolves forced overtime on Saturday afternoon at Sillers Coliseum in Cleveland, Mississippi. The Wolves came up just short in this one, falling 84-74 to the Delta State Statesmen in Gulf South Conference play. 

The loss snaps a two-game winning streak for the Wolves and marks the first time in nine games that West Georgia has not held a double-digit lead against an opponent. In Saturday's contest, the Wolves had a furious second-half comeback to tie the game and forced overtime after trailing by 18, but fell short in the overtime period. 

Delta State came out firing from three-point range from the outset. The Wolves picked up a three-pointer from Kadeim Jones in the first 30 seconds of the game, but DSU answered with five consecutive three-pointers without an answer from West Georgia, taking a 15-3 lead in the first five minutes of the contest. The Wolves went even colder, and with just under five minutes left in the first half, the Wolves trailed 27-9 and were shooting just 13 percent from the field. 

In the final four minutes of the half, the Wolves closed the period with a 13-8 run and Delta State held a 35-22 lead heading into the locker room at the break. Jones and Oronte' Anderson led the way in the period with seven points. Kovi Tate, the Wolves' leading scorer and a player who has not had a game without double-figure scoring this season, had no points and five rebounds in the opening half. 

In the second period, the Wolves continued to chip away, outscoring the Statesmen 48-35 in the period as West Georgia shot 58 percent from the field in the period. Sophomore Deng Nhial hit five three-pointers in the first 30 minutes of the game, including four in the first 10 minutes of the second half as the Wolves cut the DSU lead to 54-49 with 10:19 left in the game. 

With 5:41 left in the game, Seth Brown-Carter picked up his 17th point of the game on a three-pointer, cutting the Delta State lead to 63-59. The lead hung there for two minutes until a three-pointer from Jones cut the advantage to three at 67-64. In the final three minutes of the contest, the Wolves outscored DSU 6-3, forcing overtime for the third time this season for West Georgia. Both teams had the ball in the final 30 seconds with a chance to win the game, but neither team could find the bottom of the basket to go overtime. 

In overtime, the Statesmen outscored the Wolves 14-4, handing West Georgia their ninth loss of the 2019-20 season. Brown-Carter led the way with 19 points, followed by Nhial with 17, Jones with 16 and Tate with 10. Tate had 10 points and 14 rebounds for his sixth double-double of the year. 

West Georgia will be back in action on Thursday evening in The Coliseum, taking on the Lee Flames in more Gulf South Conference action.