HOMEWOOD, Ala. - It was an extremely close, hard-fought battle in the opening game of the week for the UWG men's basketball team on Tuesday as the Wolves fell 77-74 to Utah Valley on the campus of Samford University.
West Georgia (0-7) battled against the Wolverines in a game that featured 15 ties and 10 lead changes, but a late 10-0 run by Utah Valley (4-1) sealed the deal, although West Georgia nearly came back, but missed a game-tying attempt from distance at the buzzer.
The Wolves trailed by eight with 1:43 remaining, and eventually cut it to one thanks to Malcolm Noel and Shelton Williams-Dryden who combined to score the final nine points for UWG. West Georgia was forced to foul in the closing seconds, sending Utah Valley to the line and they would convert to make it a three-point margin. The Wolves had one final look at the buzzer, but Kolten Griffin's attempt drew back iron.
Williams-Dryden led the Wolves with 18 while Kyric Davis added 16 and Noel finished with a career-high 14. West Georgia finished the night shooting 48 percent from the field and poured in seven three-pointers.
The opening of the game was back-and-forth although Utah Valley led for the first nine minutes until Brady Hardewig hit a three-pointer followed by a Tamaury Releford layup that gave West Georgia their first lead of the game at 17-15, at the 10:21 mark.
Neither team would lead by more than three points down the final 10 minutes of the opening half, and West Georgia would get a spark from Noel off the bench, who finished with eight first half points including a pair of three-pointers.
In the second half, West Georgia led by as much as four, and the lead didn't grow over five for either team until Utah Valley's late run, hitting the eight-point lead for the first time at the 2:38 mark.
Utah Valley capitalized on an advantage in the rebound department, pulling down 15 offensive rebounds for a 16-5 advantage in the second chance points department.
Kolten Griffin led on the boards with six rebounds while Demetrus Johnson II's four assists led in that category.
West Georgia takes on North Dakota State tomorrow at 4 p.m. on Samford's campus. The Bison entered the week 3-3 and played against Samford this evening.
