CARROLLTON, Ga. - It was all West Georgia on Wednesday night inside the Coliseum as the Wolves dominated the Point Skyhawks 93-59 in non-conference action.
"It's never perfect," said head coach
Dave Moore. "We had 11 guys score and our young guys got to come off the bench and get quality minutes which is exactly what I was hoping for. We shot a high percentage and finally won the glass, which are things we wanted to do well," added Moore.
West Georgia (10-4, 9-3 GSC) got out to an early 10-4 lead, fueled by back to back three pointers from
Camron Donatlan and
Michael Zabetakis. The Skyhawks (10-8, 10-4 AAC) fought back to within three thanks to back to back three pointers of their own, but West Georgia did not remain cold for long, sparking a quick 13-4 run in four minutes of game time to get their lead back to double figures. The Wolves finished the half on a 14-8 run, giving them a 45-26 lead going to the locker room.
Zabetakis and Jackson finished the half with nine points to lead the Wolves with
Michael Griffin following close behind with seven. Griffin also led the Wolves in rebounding with four off the bench. For the Skyhawks, Jake Smith led in scoring with 15 while adding five rebounds and four assists.
More of the same ensued for the Wolves in the second half, outsourcing the Skyhawks 48-33 in the half, en route to a 93-59 victory. West Georgia shot 57% from the field and an even 40% from three in the second half to secure their 10th victory of the season.
"We've got some guys that were not making shots knocking them down now and it's going to help us down the stretch," said Moore. "You just never know from night to night who is going to have to step up and be the guy, but I think we have a pretty deep bench and I'm excited abou them," added Moore.
Zabetakis finished as the leading scorer with 18 points in just 27 minutes with
J.J. Barnes adding 14 points off the bench. Griffin finished one point and one rebound shy of a double-double, finishing with nine points and nine rebounds.
"I thought Mike Zabetakis was very controlled tonight and was very poised with four assists to the one turnover," said Moore. "Everybody looks at the 18 points but I'm looking at the assist/turnover ratio and that's what Mike has to do for us to be successful. Seeing Mike Griffin come in in an important time in the game and give us important minutes off the bench was great to see," added Moore of the sophomore from Jacksonville, FL.
Smith finished with a game high 24 points for the Skyhawks while also grabbing eight rebounds and dishing eight assists.
The Wolves will now turn their attention to Saturday as they hit the road to take on the Montevallo Falcons. West Georgia took the first contest this season 80-75 inside the Coliseum back on November 15, 2022. Tip off is set for 5:00 p.m. EST.