CLEVELAND, Tenn. – The West Alabama men’s basketball team overcame a 16-point deficit in Saturday’s matchup, but it was not enough to keep its winning streak alive. The Tigers fell 66-63 to Lee University inside Paul Dana Walker Arena in Cleveland, Tenn.

This week’s Gulf South Conference Player of the Week, Kortrijk Miles, led UWA in the effort with a 27-point, 10-rebound game for his fifth double-double of the season. The Dallas, Texas native hit 7 of 17 from the floor and 12 of 12 at the free-throw line for the game-high.

Two other Tigers scored in the double-figures, with Shardarrion Allen and Justin Allison picking up 10 points each. Other contributors include Robert Davis and Te Smith, with 9 and 7 points, respectively.

As a squad, West Alabama hit 19 of 59 (32.2%) from the floor, including 5 of 19 (26.3%) in three-point range. The Tigers made 95.2 % of their shots at the line, missing only one on 21 attempts.

The Flames were more accurate than UWA from the floor. Lee hit 23 of 46 shots (50.0%) from the field, with 8 of 17 (47.1%) from beyond the arc. The Flames had a little less success at the line, hitting 12 of 14 at 85.7%.

Lee dominated the first half, serving West Alabama its second-lowest scoring period of the season and outscoring the Tigers by 13 points.

The first couple of minutes of the competition started with a scoring back and forth, until the Flames went on a 7-0 run for a 13-8 lead with 14:27 left in the half.

After a three-minute scoring drought, Miles added points for UWA on a driving layup, cutting Lee’s lead to 13-10.

Despite several attempts to get back in the game, the Tigers closed the first half trailing the Flames, 37-24.

Coming back from the break, UWA struck first and kept the energy up to stage a slow comeback. With 7:24 left, the Tigers trailed Lee by three (50-47).

West Alabama received its first lead of the competition since the opening minutes. A jumper by Allen and back-to-back free throws by Miles gave UWA a 51-50 advantage with under five minutes remaining.

In the period, the Tigers outscored Lee 39-29. The Flames did not give up and outpaced UWA in the final minutes for the 66-63 victory.

UWA will look to rebound from Saturday’s loss as it travels to Montgomery, Ala., on Wednesday, Jan. 12. The Tigers face Auburn Montgomery at 7 p.m. inside the AUM Athletics Complex.

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HATTIESBURG, Miss. – A nine day layoff did not slow the Tigers down. No. 23 Stillman College raced out to a 10-point lead in the first five minutes and never trailed en route to an 86-71 win at William Carey University on Feb. 5. The victory extended Stillman’s lead in the Southern States Athletic Conference West Division standings to 2.5 games over Loyola University.

Stillman shot 58.3% in the game, led in scoring by Trey Petty’s 27 points and 26 by Devin Merriweather.

After the initial double-digit lead, William Carey got no closer than seven points, 17-10, seven minutes into the game. Stillman stretched its lead to 21 points at halftime, 44-23. The largest lead was 24 points early in the second half.

Petty made 6-of-13 3-pointers and was 3-of-6 inside the arc.

All nine Tigers scored in the game. Virgil Field and Ladarius Carter dished out five and four assists, respectively. Roger Davis led all players with eight rebounds. Marcus Bates blocked three shots and Davis had two blocks.

William Carey was led by Sayveon Bumpers’ 15 points, six rebounds and three assists. Zarkeichious Martin and William Gaines each scored a dozen points, while Jvari Thigpen added 10 points.

Stillman (9-1, 8-1 SSAC West) will meet William Carey (11-8, 4-5 SSAC West) once again Saturday, Feb. 6 at 5 p.m. for the final of four meetings this season against the Crusaders.

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LIVINGSTON, Ala. – A pair of jump shots by Justin Debuck down the stretch lifted Union to a 59-55 Gulf South Conference men’s basketball victory over West Alabama Friday at Pruitt Hall Gym.

Union improved to 7-4 with its second win over UWA in three outings. West Alabama is 3-2. The Tigers and the Bulldogs play again Saturday at 2 p.m.

“Holding that team to 59 points is a nice job by us, but it’s awful hard to beat anybody in this league when you score just 55,” Woodruff said. “Give them credit. They held us to 37 percent shooting from the floor just like they did in the loss up there.”

UWA went on a 14-2 run midway through the first half to give the Tigers a 23-14 lead with just over seven minutes to play before the break. Union then rallied to make five of their last six field goals to cut the Tiger lead to 28-24 with 3:29 left in the half and managed to shave the Tiger lead to 32-30 by intermission.

In a game where the lead changed hands eight times and was tied six times, Union took a 51-49 lead on a three-pointer from Tylandrius Parks with 7:13 left in the game and never trailed again. The Bulldogs also limited UWA to just 2-of-11 shooting from the floor to end the game.

After a layup from Tiger guard Justin Allison tied the game at 55-55 with 1:21 left, Debuck hit jumpers at 1:02 and 14.1 seconds to ice the win for Union. Debuck’s last bucket came as time expired on the shot clock.

Parks scored 20 points to lead all scorers. Hunter Vick chipped in 12 for the Bulldogs, who shot 51 percent from the floor (24-of-47). The Bulldogs also converted 5-of-11 three-point attempts while West Alabama was 7-of-23 from long range. JC Hawkins had eight rebounds.

Shardarrion Allen played 40 minutes and scored 15 points to pace West Alabama. Roger Davis chipped in 10. Allison led Tiger rebounders with seven.

“It’s really hard to win,” Woodruff said. “In a game like this a couple of possessions are the difference in the game, the difference between winning and losing.

“There aren’t a lot of secrets anymore because at this point there isn’t much that is going to change with either team,” UWA head coach Nick Woodruff said. “We just have to show up and see who wants it more.”

Saturday’s meeting will be the fourth in 16 days between West Alabama and Union after the Tigers had not played for 13 days prior to Friday’s outing due to pandemic precautions.

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TUSCALOOSA –   It took only 10 seconds for Trey Petty to put Stillman College on the scoreboard, and the Tigers did not look back en route to a 76-65 win over the University of Mobile in Birthright Alumni Hall. The win maintains Stillman’s lead in the Southern States Athletic Conference West Division by 1.5 games over Loyola University.

Stillman spread the ball around with eight players scoring, including four in double figures. Roger Davis ended up leading Stillman with 15 points off the bench, including 13 in the second half. Devin Merriweather finished with 13 points, Trey Petty had 12 and Ladarius Carter scored 11.

The Tigers out-rebounded Mobile, 52-38, led by Virgil Fields’ 12 boards and nine by Petty. Stillman continued its trend of protecting the basketball with an even 11 assists and 11 turnovers.

Stillman led by nine at the half, 39-30, before opening the second half on a 20-9 run to go up by 20 points, 59-39, in the first eight minutes. Petty grabbed an offensive rebound and put back for the first 20-point margin. Moments later, Tomias Brand slammed down a fastbreak dunk off a Petty steal to make it 20 once more, and then a Roger Davis basket later pushed it to 21 points, 65-44.

Mobile led only once, 10-8, after an Alan Lang basket eight minutes into the game.

RJ Kelly led Mobile with 15 points, 11 rebounds and two blocked shots while playing in foul trouble. Lang finished with 12 and Maurice Anderson scored 10. Logan Foutz, Darvin JOnes and Trenton Short each scored eight.

Both teams were held around 20% from 3-point range, playing the night inside the arch.

Stillman is scheduled to have the weekend off before returning to the University of Mobile next Tuesday, Feb. 2 for game three of a four-game series. Mobile (8-8, 3-4 SSAC) will play a two-game set at Loyola in New Orleans over the weekend first.

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JACKSON, Tenn. – The University of West Alabama Men’s basketball made 17 free throws and needed every one as the Tigers collected their first road win of the season in a 73-67 win over the Union University Bulldogs Saturday in the Fred DeLay Gymnasium in Gulf South Conference action.

UWA (3-1) finished the game 94.4 percent (17-of-18) from the free throw line. West Alabama also shot a season best from the floor going 59.1 percent (26-of-44) from the floor.

“I told the guys, “don’t worry about getting on the bus if they weren’t ready for a fight.” They were all on the bus, so I figured they were ready,” said Head coach Nick Woodruff. “We had a really tough film session this morning and our guys bounced back in a great way. They responded to the coaching, didn’t pout and got our team a very important win on the road.”

Robert Davis led the Tigers in scoring with 16 points the effort from the line as he went 8-for-8 in free throws including four down the stretch to ice the game away. Davis also finished 2-for-4 from three and added and team leading three steals and three rebounds.

“It was a team effort. We made an effort to get the ball inside and felt we had an advantage there. That in turn led to open shots and driving lanes for our guards. Rob made some key free throws down the stretch,” said Woodruff.

Shardarrion Allen and Kortrijk Miles both scored 14 points each. Allen added a team leading four assists and two rebounds. Miles also provided four rebounds, two assists and two steals.

“Kortrijk and Phat (Allen) are finding their spots and opportunities within the offense,” said Woodruff. “This time of year, our Defense is ahead of our offense and we are okay with that. The offense will continue to get better as we play together and get more experience.

Justin Allison rounded out the double-digit scorers with 12 points along with five rebounds and two assists. CJ Melton led on the boards with six rebounds.

The Bulldogs (5-3) took an early lead going up 12-7 at the 14:37 mark in the first half before the true back and forth started. The lead changed five of the six times it did all game between that point and with 1:21 remaining where Allison hit a free throw to go up 30-29. UWA stretched the lead to 32-29 at the half.

With 14:55 left in the game, Union tied the contest off a three-pointer by Hunter Vick at 43-43. However, the Tigers outscored the hosting Bulldogs 40-24 the rest of the way on the way to the 73-67 victory.

Tylandrius Parks led all scorers with 20 points while Vick scored 19 as the two were the only Bulldogs in double figures.

As a unit, Union shot 52.9 percent (27-of-51) from the floor, 39.1 percent (9-of-23) from behind the arc and 80 percent (4-of-5) from the charity stripe.

The Tigers won the battle of the boards 25-19 and scored 24 points on turnovers compared to 17 for Union. Meanwhile, the Bulldogs committed 15 turnovers and UWA had 16.

“We still have a long way to go and it doesn’t get any easier this week at Huntsville,” said Woodruff.

After the four games in five days marathon, West Alabama will have a few days off just in time to get ready for another road trip as the Tigers will face the University of Alabama in Huntsville Chargers on Jan. 22 and Jan. 23.

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LIVINGSTON, Ala. – Roger Davis scored 21 points to lead four West Alabama players in double figures on the way to a 67-49 Gulf South Conference men’s basketball victory over Mississippi College Wednesday at Pruitt Hall Gym.

West Alabama improved to 2-0 with the win. Mississippi College dropped to 0-4.

Shardarrion “Fat” Allen chipped in 15 points, followed by Robert Davis with 14 and Kortrijk Miles with 10. Allen led all rebounders with eight as the Tigers outrebounded the Choctaws 37 to 25. Davis had five assists for UWA.

“To hold Mississippi College to 49 points is a great effort defensively because it takes a big time effort to guard that team,” Woodruff said after his Tigers limited MC to 15 points under their season average. “I am extremely proud for our guys because we work really hard.

“This was a good test for us, but we are a long way from getting it done,” Woodruff said. “Right now it is more about us and how we defend than it is about the other team.”

It took West Alabama over four minutes to record its first points, a Roger Davis layup at the 15:28 mark in the first half. It was a different story over the next eight minutes with the Tigers converting eight straight field goal attempts.

Neither team could locate the bottom of the bucket as the first half wound to a close with West Alabama holding a 25-20 lead. The Tigers did not score for the final 3:25 of the half, making just 2-of-10 field goal tries. The Choctaws were blanked for the last 2:18.

For the second consecutive night West Alabama hit the accelerator in the second half, converting 53 percent (14-of-26) from the floor while limiting MC to 39 percent (10-of-26). Robert Davis scored all 14 of his points in the final 20 minutes and Allen had 11 of his 15 in the second half.

“I am thrilled for Roger to have that kind of night and Fat is also playing really well,” Woodruff said. “One thing that goes unnoticed sometimes is that CJ Melton is like Swiss Army Knife as a defender. He is good wherever we ask him to be.”

Brandon Boston was the only Choctaw to score in double figures, but led all scorers with 27 points on a 12-of-19 shooting night. He also led Mississippi College rebounders with seven.

West Alabama travels to Jackson, Tennessee to take on Union (4-2) in back-to-back games Friday and Saturday. Mississippi College doesn’t play again until hosting Union on Jan. 22 and 23.

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MOBILE – Four Tiger players scored in double figures for the third-straight game to pace Stillman College to a 71-55 win at the University of Mobile on Tuesday, Jan. 12. The win moves Stillman to 4-0 on the season and 3-0 in the Southern States Athletic Conference West Division.

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