CARROLLTON, Ga. – The UWG men's basketball team won their third straight conference game on Saturday after a 71-64 victory over the Union Bulldogs.

While they only shot 2-10 from three, West Georgia (3-1, 3-0 GSC)  held Union (3-3, 2-1 GSC) to a 37.9% field goal percentage and won the turnover battle by eight, leading to the Wolves' first road victory of the season.

"I'm really proud of the guy's effort", said head coach Dave Moore. "It was a great defensive effort. We had our best defensive game of the year which made up for a poor offensive shooting night." We held them to under 40% shooting from the field which is a goal of ours and also held them 31 points in the second half."

The entire first half was a back-and-forth affair, with the Bulldogs taking a 10-9 lead to begin. Michael Zabetakis, Zawdie Jackson, and Jalen Sasser got the UWG offense going as the trio all had four early points to keep the Wolves up to pace with the Bulldogs. Union took their largest lead of the game 10 minutes into the first half, as they led by four after a three from guard Ivan Prug. West Georgia would quickly respond, tying the game after baskets from Jackson and Zabetakis before the Wolves retook the lead courtesy of a J.J. Barnes layup that gave UWG a 27-25 lead with 4:12 left in the half. From there on out, Union would use an 8-3 run to take a 33-30 lead into halftime.

West Georgia shot 35.5% from the field and 1-5 from three in the first half, while Union shot 41.4% and 63.6% from three.

The Wolves got out to a fast start in the second half, as buckets from Zabetakis, Kolten Griffin, and two free throws from Jackson gave UWG a 36-35 lead two minutes into the half. After not shooting the ball particularly well in the first half, both teams found their offensive rhythm in the second half and began to trade baskets, leading to four ties in a four-minute span before West Georgia went on a massive 12-1 run to take a 57-47 lead with 8:24 left. After a layup and free throw from Union's Boe Nguidjol, a Barnes three got the Wolves' lead right back up to 10 with 5:19 left in the game. With UWG attempting to run away with the game, Union responded with a 12-4 run to cut the Wolves' lead to two with 2:18 on the clock.

Neither team could score on the next four possessions which gave UWG the ball with 56 second left, up 64-62. Jackson, who hit the dagger against Montevallo on November 16, ran a pick-and-roll with Jalen Sasser and found space to get off his floater which hit nothing but the net to give West Georgia a 66-62 lead with 33 seconds left. Union then raced down the court and missed a big three which ended the Bulldogs chances of a late comeback, as Barnes iced the game at the free throw line.

"Overall, it was a total team effort and really good execution down the stretch", coach Moore continued. "The guys really dug in together tonight and I couldn't be more proud of them."

Jackson led the Wolves offense with a team-high 16 points and a team-high four assists on 50% shooting, while Sasser and Barnes added 14 points. On the glass, Griffin picked up a game-high 11 rebounds.

West Georgia will be back in action on Thursday for a road conference matchup against the Valdosta State Blazers that's set for 7:30 p.m.