CLEVELAND, Miss. – The UWG men's basketball team secured their fifth straight win after a 79-76 victory over the Delta State Statesmen on Wednesday night.
Seth Brown-Carter and
Deng Nhial propelled the Wolves over the Statesmen as the duo combined for 45 points on 75% shooting. West Georgia recorded a season-low five turnovers while they forced 14 Delta State turnovers.
The UWG offense was all
Deng Nhial to start as Nhial scored 12 of the first 15 points for the Wolves, resulting in a 15-7 West Georgia lead. The Statesmen's offense got off to a fast start as well as a 12-5 run from Delta State made it a 20-19 game just nine minutes into the half. The Wolves responded with a 10-2 run which included back-to-back threes from
Seth Brown-Carter that extended UWG's lead to 30-21. West Georgia took their largest lead of the half, at 10 points, on a tough three-point play from
Kadeim Jones with 3:15 left before an 8-2 Statesmen run made it a 44-40 game at the break.
West Georgia shot 44% from the field and 41% from three with only one turnover in the first half.
The second half was the definition of a battle as Delta State took a 49-48 lead which was their first lead of the game since the 19:42 mark of the first half. UWG immediately retook the lead thanks to three-pointers from
Seth Brown-Carter and
Deng Nhial. The two teams would continue to go back-and-forth until a personal 6-0 run from Brown-Carter gave the Wolves a 72-65 lead with 5:47 left to play. Delta State wouldn't go away and used an 11-2 run to take a two-point lead with 1:47 left in the game. After a defensive stop from West Georgia,
Deng Nhial hit a huge three to put the Wolves up one with 46 seconds left. UWG would then get another big stop on the defensive end which forced the Statesmen to foul where
Michael Zabetakis knocked down two free throws to extend the lead to three. Delta State had a chance to tie, but a three at the buzzer didn't fall for the Statesmen.
Seth Brown-Carter led the Wolves with 23 points on 73% shooting and 57% from three while
Deng Nhial added a season-high 22 points with a season-high six three-pointers. West Georgia will be back in the Coliseum on Saturday for a conference matchup against Mississippi College that's set for 2:00 PM.
