WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - UWG men's basketball shot 56 percent from the field in the second half on Friday evening, but it wasn't enough to overcome the Embry-Riddle Eagles as the Wolves lost the opener 88-77 at Rubin Arena in the Gulf South / Sunshine State Conference Challenge.
The first half was the big story in this one, as the Wolves struggled from the field while Embry-Riddle was hot in the first half, hitting 8-of-16 from three-point range and shooting 54 percent overall from the field. That helped the Eagles build a 51-28 halftime lead as UWG shot just 30 percent from the floor in the opening period.
The season opened with both teams locking into a back-and-forth battle in a five-minute span that saw four lead changes and a total of 15 points scored with an 8-7 lead from the Wolves. Over the next 10 minutes, Embry-Riddle would rattle off a 30-10 run, taking a 38-18 lead at the 6:55 point of the period. The Eagles' advantage grew to as much as 25 points in the half before a pair of
J.J. Barnes free-throws ended the period with the Wolves trailing 51-28.
West Georgia mounted a comeback in the second half on bench points and points in the paint. In scoring off the bench in the second half, the Wolves outscored ERU 20-9 and 30-12 in points in the paint. A big portion of that came from forward
Jalen Sasser, who came in as the sixth man in the game, scoring 22 points on 9-of-12 shooting and pulling down seven rebounds. His 22 points tied a career-high for Sasser, with that number coming on February 13 of last season against Lee.
Four Wolves scored in double-figures in the game, led by Sasser and
Kadeim Jones, who added 20 on a 3-for-4 night from three-point range.
Michael Zabetakis and
Seth Brown-Carter each had 11 in the game and the Wolves had 15 assists as a team on the night.
J.J. Barnes had a solid night, scoring six with seven rebounds and four steals.
UWG will conclude the weekend on Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m., taking on host Palm Beach Atlantic in the final game of the 2021 GSC/SSC Challenge.
