CARROLLTON, Ga. – The UWG men's basketball team dropped their third straight game on Saturday after a 76-71 loss to the Lee Flames.
It was a tale of two halves for West Georgia (16-8, 15-7 GSC) as Lee (17-6, 16-6 GSC) outscored UWG, 54-36, in the second half to propel themselves over the Wolves.
"First thing, credit goes to Lee," said head coach Dave Moore. "We just couldn't handle their guards. PJay Smith and Beyaun Hendricks we couldn't handle them especially in that second half. Offensively, we turned the ball over 18 times. We had seven at halftime so when you turn the ball over 11 times in the second half and give up 54, you're going to get beat by a good team."
Camron Donatlan got West Georgia going to begin as the guard scored a quick five points and recorded three steals in the first six minutes of the game, propelling UWG to a 10-4 lead. Soon after, Michael Zabetakis hit his first three of the night to put the Wolves up nine, leading to an 11-2 run for West Georgia. That extended the lead to 24-7 with 8:46 left in the half. Lee started to find their offensive flow, but UWG kept their foot on the gas as a three-point play from Zabetakis made it a 30-16 game with 3:50 left in the half. From there on out, the two teams traded baskets as the Wolves took a 35-22 lead into the half.
West Georgia shot 56% from the field and 66.7% from three in the first half, while holding Lee to 36.4% from the floor and 12.5% from three.
Out of the gate, Lee went on an 11-5 run to cut UWG's lead down to seven just three minutes into the second half, before a layup from Donatlan sparked a 10-0 run for West Georgia, putting the Wolves up 49-33. The Flames kept chipping away at UWG's lead but could never get it under 10 points until Lee went on a massive 13-0 run to tie the game at 61 with 4:37 left to play. Moments later, Lee took their first lead of the game after a free throw from forward Noah Bolder, which was followed by Donatlan giving the lead right back to the Wolves after knocking down a pair of free throws. With 2:31 left on the clock, West Georgia led by one before Lee's Beyuan Hendricks went on a personal 8-2 run, giving the Flames the lead for good as they went on to win the rematch over the Wolves.
"Lee is a really good team," coach Moore continued. "They're one of the top teams in our league and they proved it in that second half. They took that game from us and now we've got to come back next week, learn from it, and go back to work."
Zabetakis finished with a game-high 29 points on 50% shooting while Zawdie Jackson added 13 points.
The magic number for West Georgia to clinch a top-four seed in the GSC Tournament remains at one as the Wolves now set their focus on Mississippi College for an 8:30 p.m. road matchup on Wednesday.
