CARROLLTON, Ga. - UWG men's basketball snapped a two-game slide on Friday evening at home, handing LaGrange a 90-83 loss at The Coliseum.
Kadeim Jones had his fourth 20-point game of the season, leading four Wolves in double-figures on the night as West Georgia won for the second time in the last seven games.
Jalen Sasser picked up his first double-double on the year as well, scoring 18 points and pulling down 11 rebounds.
The Wolves sprinted to an 11-3 lead with just over two minutes gone in the game and then extended that to a 19-8 advantage with 15:00 left in the first half. All five starters got in on the act in that span, with each starter scoring at least once in the first five minutes of the game.
Seth Brown-Carter had five of his 16 points in the game in that first five minutes, hitting a three-pointer and a jumper to help propel the Wolves to an 11-point advantage. Brown-Carter finished the game with 16 points and nine rebounds, just missing out on a double-double.
The UWG lead reached as much as 18 points in the first half, as the Wolves led 42-24 after a pair of free-throws from
Michael Zabetakis with 6:21 left in the half. Zabetakis had a solid all-around game, scoring nine with eight rebounds and three assists. But that was as big as the lead would get, as the Panthers started to claw their way back into contention with Kyle Brown leading the way. Brown led all scorers on the evening with 24 points and as the two teams went into the locker room at the half, West Georgia held a slim 47-45 lead.
LaGrange kept that momentum after the break, building a five-point lead in the first six minutes of the second period. A
Jalen Sasser dunk with 14:09 left in the game cut the Panther lead to three at 56-53, giving a boost to the UWG offense. Over the final 14 minutes of the game, the Wolves outscored LaGrange 39-27 to take the seven-point victory and move to 4-6 on the year.
The Wolves will be back in action on Monday at The Coliseum, playing an afternoon game on the final day before the holiday break. The doubleheader begins at 2 p.m. on Monday with the women playing West Alabama in Gulf South Conference action at 2 p.m. and the men against Morehouse in a non-conference tilt at 4 p.m.
