HOMEWOOD, Ala. - It was a tough Black Friday for the UWG men's basketball team who fell to a solid Samford squad, 86-65, in the final game of the Thanksgiving Multi-Team Event at the Pete Hanna Center.
West Georgia (0-9) hung with Samford (7-2) for a half, trailing by five at halftime, but the Bulldogs had too much firepower in the second half. The Wolves held Samford to under 40 percent in the opening half before the Bulldogs, who have now won 24 straight games on their home floor, shot 62 percent in the second half.
The Wolves got a double-double from Shelton Williams-Dryden in the loss as the junior finished with 21 points and 13 boards, which were game-highs in both categories.
UWG's only lead came after Demetrus Johnson II opened the scoring, and it remained a back-and-forth battle until just after the midway point of the half when the Bulldogs pulled away to get their first double-digit lead of the game at 25-15.
West Georgia would battle back to get it as close as three on multiple occasions over the final nine minutes of the first half, but Samford would take the 37-32 lead into the break.
After Kolten Griffin scored the first five points for the Wolves in the second, Samford would go on an 11-2 run to stretch the lead to 13 just five minutes into the half.
The Samford lead would only slide under 10 at one point over the remainder of the game, when William-Dryden cut it to nine at the 14:32 mark. West Georgia stayed within striking distance until the deficit ballooned to 17 late in the half, and the Bulldogs would lead by as much as 21, including the final margin.
Williams-Dryden was the only player in double-figures for the Wolves, with Kolten griffin finishing with nine and Kyric Davis and Malcolm Noel adding eight each.
As a team, West Georgia trailed Samford on the glass by just one, 36-35, and the Wolves had the advantage in the paint, scoring 42 of their points in the paint to just 35 from Samford. The Bulldogs' three-point shooting was key as Samford connected on 12 triples to just four from the Wolves.
UWG remains on the road for their next matchup, traveling to in-state foe Mercer on Wednesday afternoon. Tip-time from Macon is set for 11 a.m. on December 5 on the campus of Mercer University.
