CARROLLTON, Ga. - The University of West Georgia men's basketball team secured their first victory as a Division I program on Saturday at The Coliseum, taking down the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles by a 78-73 final in non-conference action.
It was a tale of two halves on Saturday as West Georgia (1-10) built a big first half lead, only for Tennessee Tech (4-6) to flip the script and nearly come back. In the end, however, it was Dave Moore's squad that held on, securing a historic win for the program in their 11th game as a Division I program.
"It was a long time coming. We've worked hard for this," Moore said following the game, "In the first half, you saw glimpses of what we're trying to get to. We were locked in defensively, making it tough for them, we were limiting them at the three-point line and we were executing offensively and making shots. That's what we're trying to get this thing to."
West Georgia played about as good of a first half as you could ask for, shooting 55.9 percent from the field including a 6-for-11 mark from distance.
"We hung on in the second half, and we knew they were going to make a push, and they did what they do," Moore added. "They made five threes in that second half, and they made it hard on us, and we went one-for-nine from three and that's why it's a close game."
Five scorers finished in double-figures for the Wolves, led by 19 from reigning ASUN Player of the Week Shelton Williams-Dryden. Malcolm Noel added 13, Rickey Ballard finished with 12, and Tauris Watson and Tamaury Releford finished with 10 each.
"That's West Georgia basketball. It's not about who gets the shots, it's about what kind of shots we're getting," said Moore. "I thought the ball was moving well today, I thought we were executing well. We came out of timeouts and executed for buckets, and that's what it's about at this level. And when we get this thing where we want to be, that's what you'll see, five, six, seven guys in double figures and balanced scoring."
The Golden Eagles led early, but a Williams-Dryden layup at the 16:38 mark put UWG up at 11-10, and the Wolves then built as much as a 19-point lead in the opening half. That 19-point advantage came following a four-point play from Malcolm Noel at the 1:24 mark of the half.
A big part of UWG's offensive success in the opening half was Williams-Dryden who shot 7-of-10 from the field and had 16 first half points, helping UWG lead 49-32 at the break.
Tennessee Tech came out firing in the second half, hitting a three-pointer at the 13:52 mark to cut the UWG lead into single-digits for the first time since the six-minute mark of the opening half.
From there the teams traded baskets and the Golden eagles slowly and steadily chipped away until a layup cut it to a three-point, 74-71 UWG lead with two minutes to play. Williams-Dryden made a free throw to extend it back to four shortly after, only for TTU to cut it to a two-point deficit with 28 ticks left.
The Golden Eagles were then forced to foul, sending senior Kolten Griffin to the line who calmly knocked down both foul shots to get the lead back to two possessions, and Demetrus Johnson put it away with a final free throw after a stop to make it a five-point margin.
"I'm proud of these guys. I'm proud of Kolten Griffin for hitting those two big foul shots there at the end to give us some room where we couldn't get beat on a bucket," Moore said.
Griffin finished with nine points, nearly making it six double-digit scorers for Moore and the Wolves. The senior did lead UWG's rebounding efforts with five. Williams-Dryden , whose 19 led all scorers, also dished out six assists.
West Georgia now has more than a week off before they travel to Charlotte for a non-conference road matchup on December 17.
"We've got exam week coming up, which will give us a chance to just practice and we'll give them some time off, which we need, you know, we've been on the road for almost a month," Moore added. "They need some time to re-calibrate, practice, and work on our skill level."
The Wolves will tip-off against the Charlotte 49ers on December 17 at 7 p.m. from Charlotte, North Carolina.
