JACKSON, Tenn. - The Union University men's basketball team lost 89-85 to the University of West Georgia Thursday night at Fred DeLay Gymnasium, David Blackstock Court. Union dropped to 12-7 overall and 6-5 in the Gulf South Conference. West Georgia improved to 5-12 on the season and 3-6 in league play.
All five wins for West Georgia this season have come on the road.
The teams started fast with the lead changing several times in the first five minutes of play. Union led 14-11 at the 15:20 mark. West Georgia continued its hot shooting early in the game, staying over 60 percent for most of the first half. The Wolves took control over the next five minutes and pushed their lead to 31-20, the biggest of the half. Union slowly chipped away.
Tyree Boykin came alive, hitting four-of-five 3-pointers and finishing the half with 16 points. Over the final nine minutes of the half, Union outscored West Georgia 22-11 with Boykin scoring 14 points in that stretch. With one minute left in the half,
Samory Gueye sank two free throws to tie the game at 42-42. That score stood at the half with both teams shooting well. West Georgia shot 56 percent in the first half, while Union was at 48 percent, hitting 40 percent from 3-point range.
Both teams continued the fast pace in the second half with UWG jumping out to a quick 59-54 advantage over the first six minutes. Union rallied to lead 65-63 with 11:39 left following Boykin's fifth 3-pointer of the night. With Union up 75-74, Peyton Stovall hit a 3-pointer with 7:43 left to put Union up 78-74. Union scores six straight to take its largest lead of the game to that point, 81-74.
West Georgia rallied with an 8-0 run, including a game-tying 3-pointer from Seth Brown-Carter with 3:05 left. The Wolves regained the lead on the next possession, 83-81, forcing Union into a timeout with 2:13 left to play. Union stopped the run and tied the game on a put-back from S. Gueye with 1:57 left. Two free throws from UWG and the Wolves led again by two. A missed shot by Union and and turnover gave UWG the ball up two and 45 seconds to play. The Wolves took an early shot in the possession to extend the lead to 87-83 with 34 seconds left. Union's Boykin drew a foul and sank a pair of free throws with 18 seconds left to cut the deficit to 87-85. After Union nearly forced a turnover, West Georgia managed to get a breakaway layup to seal the 89-85 win.
Union was led by Boykin with 26 points, including five 3-pointers.
Payton Stovall finished with a season high 22 points, just one shy of his career high.
Terrandus Smith scored 11 points. The Bulldogs shot 47 percent from the field, 38 percent (12-32) from the 3-point line, and 81 percent (21-26) from the free throw line.
West Georgia was led with five players in double figures. All five starters scored double figures, in fact, 85 of the 89 points came from starters. Jones led with 24 points, followed by Zabetakis with 18 points. Brown-Carter scored 17 points, Heard finished with 14 points, and Anderson added 12 points. Zabetakis added 13 rebounds and Anderson finished with 12 assists. The Wolves shot 57 percent from the field, 36 percent (5-14) from long range, and 82 percent (14-17) from the free throw line.
Up next for Union will be the second of two straight home games, Saturday, January 25 at 4 p.m. versus Shorter.
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