CARROLLTON, Ga. – The UWG men's basketball team finished their 2022-23 regular season campaign with a 73-55 Senior Day win over the Delta State Statesmen on Saturday afternoon.

It was another defensive masterclass for West Georgia (18-8, 17-7 GSC) in their 18-point win as the Wolves held the Statesmen (7-20, 6-18 GSC) to 39.6% from the field and 35% from three, marking the 11^th time this season where UWG has held their opponent to under 40% shooting.

"It was a great day for our guys," said head coach Dave Moore. "We played a lot better in the second half than we did in the first half. It was a struggle in that first half, but give credit to Delta State. They make it hard on you because they play different than anyone else in our league with that matchup zone. In the second half, we really picked up our pressure and that led to some steals and easy baskets that got us going."

UWG's seniors Michael Zabetakis, Tommaso Gini, Charlie Crafton, and Jalen Sasser got the start alongside Zawdie Jackson for Senior Day. Sasser came out the gate and scored the first six points for West Georgia, leading to a 6-5 UWG lead. Delta State took the lead for a moment until Camron Donatlan hit a three that sparked an 8-0 run for the Wolves, giving them a 14-9 lead halfway through the half. After the run from West Georgia, their offense went cold as the Wolves only scored five points in the next seven minutes, propelling the Statesmen to a 20-19 lead with 3:15 left to play in the half.  UWG's defense kept them in the game and continued throughout the rest of the half as a dunk from Amari Davis gave West Georgia a 24-23 lead at the half. 
 
Both teams shot 31% from the field in the defensive heavy first half.
 
Zabetakis and Sasser combined to score eight of UWG's first 10 points out of the break to extend the Wolves lead to 34-28, four minutes in. West Georgia struggled to pull away from Delta State as both teams traded buckets for the next seven minutes until the Statesmen took a 49-48 lead, courtesy of three-pointer from Kelen Dietrich.
 
Down for the first time in the second half, coach Moore inserted Cole Fisher for the first time in the half and the redshirt sophomore immediately hit a three that flipped the momentum entirely towards the Wolves. Fisher's three was the start of a massive 17-3 run that gave UWG their largest lead of the game at 65-52 with 3:56 left to play. Delta State scrapped to stay in the game before Zawdie Jackson scored West Georgia's last eight points to close out the Statesmen and end the Wolves' regular season on a high note.
 
Zabetakis led the way with a game-high 19 points while Jackson and Sasser both finished with 16 points.
 
"Like Bill Belichick and Bill Parcells say, you are what you're record says you are," coach Moore added. "If you really look at it, we are about 12 possession away from being 20-4 but that's just how it goes sometimes. We've got a home game on Tuesday and I hope we can play well to keep this thing going because it's a fun group to be around and coach."
 
West Georgia finished their 2022-23 regular season 18-8 and are set to host the Valdosta State Blazers on Super Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. in the Quarterfinals of the GSC Tournament.