LIVINGSTON, Ala. – The UWG men's basketball team dropped their second conference game of the season after a 75-67 loss to the West Alabama Tigers on Sunday.

West Georgia (6-3, 6-2 GSC) shot 41% from the field, 26% from three, and lost the rebounding battle by nine, while West Alabama (10-2, 6-2 GSC) shot 44% from the field, 39% from three, and attempted 39 free throws compared to the Wolves' 16 free throws in the eight-point loss.

"West Alabama is a really good team and we knew that we were going to have to play very well to win a game on the road against them", said head coach Dave Moore. "I thought that we played reasonably well in the first half, but we shot 0-8 from three and I thought we had some good looks. At the end of the day, we have to be able to make some shots over the top and this is the second game in a row that we haven't been able to do that and it has led to losses."

The first half was a back-and-forth affair, with West Georgia taking an early 14-9 lead after a pair of free throws from J.J. Barnes. West Alabama immediately responded as a pair of threes on back-to-back possessions gave the Tigers a one-point lead with 9:50 left in the first half. The lead continued to seesaw before back-to-back layups from Barnes put UWG back up by five. The Wolves could never pull away from the Tigers in the first half, as jumpers from West Alabama's Kuran Garner tied the game, taking us into the half.

West Georgia shot 40% from the field in the first half and held West Alabama to 36% from the field but the Wolves shot 0-8 from three, while the Tigers made three threes, leading to the game being tied at 26.
 
After not shooting the ball well in the first half, West Alabama came out firing on the offensive end to begin the second half, leading to a 12-3 run to take an 38-29 lead over UWG just five minutes in. The Wolves threw their counterpunch by going on a 14-5 run, which was capped off by a layup from Zawdie Jackson, to cut their deficit to three with 10:44 left to play. Moments later, West Alabama would extend their lead back up to eight before threes from Michael Zabetakis and Barnes carried a 6-2 run for West Georgia to make it a 56-52 game. From there on out, the Tigers would get their lead back up to double figures and keep the Wolves at bay, leading to a 75-67 loss for UWG.

"To West Alabama's credit, they made some big shots late", coach Moore continued. "We cut it to five a couple of times in the second half and then Justin Allison, Shardarrion Allen, or Kuran Garner would make a shot, so they had guys who really stepped up."

Jackson led the way offensively for West Georgia with a team-high 17 points and three steals on 5-8 shooting, while Barnes finished with 13 points on 5-11 shooting.

The Wolves will get 13 days off for the holiday break, before hosting the Shorter Hawks on Dec. 31 for a 4:00 p.m. GSC matchup.