DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – UWG men's basketball dropped their season opener on Saturday, falling 70-65 to the Embry-Riddle Eagles on the road.

UWG (0-1) struggled to find their offense, shooting 39.2% from the field and 16.7% from three, which contributed to their five-point loss to Embry-Riddle (1-0).

West Georgia got off to a slow start offensively in the first half, with Kolten Griffin scoring the Wolves' first points of the season at the 13:38 mark. UWG continued to struggle on the offensive end and in result found themselves down 15-4 halfway through the half, until Jalen Sasser got West Georgia going, as the senior scored six straight points for the Wolves to keep UWG within reach of Embry-Riddle. Moments later, a jumper and two free throws from Michael Zabetakis got West Georgia within six before the Eagles used an 8-2 run to take their largest lead of the game at 12 with 4:55 left in the half. UWG got a much needed spark before going into halftime as a Sasser layup began a 12-6 run for the Wolves to cut their deficit to six, going into the break.

Sasser's 10 first half points carried a UWG offense that shot 38.5% and 1/8 from three in the first half, while Embry-Riddle shot 43.3% from the field and 37.5% from three.

The Eagles blitzed the Wolves to start the second half as Embry-Riddle put West Georgia in their largest deficit of the night at 15, six minutes into the half. A three-point play from Zawdie Jackson got UWG's offense going in the second half, sparking a quick 7-0 run to get the contest back within single digits with 12:37 left in the game. After the Wolves cut the lead to nine, Embry-Riddle got their lead back up to double digits and would keep it that way for majority of the half as the Eagles led by 10 with 1:48 left. With the contest looking all but over, Zabetakis completely took the game over as the graduate student went on a personal 7-0 run to cut UWG's deficit to three with 21 seconds left to play, but the Wolves would run out of time and fall 70-65 to the Eagles.

Zabetakis scored a game-high 22 points, grabbed a team-high five rebounds, and collected a game-high three steals while Sasser added 18 points and four rebounds on 8-12 shooting.

West Georgia will be back in action on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. when they welcome the Montevallo Falcons to the Coliseum for the 2022-23 home opener.