CARROLLTON, Ga. - The University of West Georgia Men's Basketball team advanced to the GSC Tournament Semifinals on Tuesday after a 87-76 win over the Union Bulldogs.

After a rough first half, West Georgia (24-5, 19-5 GSC) used a colossal 17-0 run in the second half to pull away from Union (14-15, 11-13 GSC) and clinch a spot in the Semifinals.  

"To Union's credit, they came out ready to go," said head coach Dave Moore. "They weren't going to lay down for us and they played really hard. I thought we struggled on the offensive end in the first half and it affected our defense but in the second half, I thought we got back to our game. Defending and rebounding."

While the win advances UWG to the next round of the Tournament, it was also the 100th career win for Coach Moore.

West Georgia got off to a very slow start in the first half. After making their first two shots of the game, UWG missed 11 of their next 12 shots, propelling Union to a 21-11 lead halfway through the period. It was the GSC Player of the Year, Zawdie Jackson, and First Team All-GSC selection, Camron Donatlan who got the Wolves going as the duo took the game over offensively by scoring 23 points in the half. Behind Jackson and Donatlan, West Georgia climbed their way back into the game and got within one after a three from Cole Fisher with 3:22 minutes left in the half. For the remainder of the period, the two teams traded baskets as UWG went into the locker room down four.

West Georgia shot 38.5 percent from the field in the period while Union shot 47 percent from the floor.

Jackson came out of the break and buried a three, 18 seconds into the second half, making it a one point game once again. After Jackson's three, the Wolves' offense went cold again as they were held scoreless for the next four minutes which led to Union getting their lead back up to seven points. The Bulldogs continued to hold their lead and got it up to as much as nine in the second half until a three-point play from Dontalan completely shifted the complexity of the game. Dontalan's and-one sparked a massive 17-0 run, giving West Georgia a 62-55 lead with 7:29 left to play. Union's Jordan Pyke ended the Wolves' run while Jeremiah Littlepage kept the Bulldogs in the game.  Up 73-66 with 3:46 left to play, Jackson buried a three, putting the game out of reach as UWG went on to win, 87-76.

Jackson led the way by tying his career-high with 36 points while Marlon Smith added 19 points off the bench. 

West Georgia is set to play West Alabama in the GSC Semifinals on Saturday at 6:00 PM EST at Samford University.

"Hopefully the way we finished tonight builds some momentum heading into Saturday," coach Moore continued. " Tomorrow, we're going to take a day off because Saturday against West Alabama is going to be a street fight."