Bucs Drop Heartbreaker to West Alabama
By Rori Eddie

Livingston, AL--The University of West Alabama men’s basketball team only shot 55.6 percent from the free throw line, compared to the Christian Brothers University Buccaneer’s 82.8 percent. When it mattered most, though, the Tigers drained the ones they needed and it proved to be the difference in UWA’s 70-68 victory over CBU tonight inside Pruitt Hall.

The Tigers held only a slim three-point advantage at the half-time intermission, 39-36, and the second-half would become a basket-for-basket contest until UWA, with 2:44 left to play, took on a 63-60 lead on a Tommy Norris three-point basket. CBU would commit a costly turnover on the ensuing in-bound, which Richard Stone collected and converted into a 65-60 UWA advantage.

Forced into a must foul situation the remainder of the contest, CBU would get as close as 65-63 with just :40 seconds left to play, but timely and clutch free-throw shooting by Cadarrall Eddings and Stone iced the 70-68 victory for the UWA Tigers.

With the non-conference win, UWA moves to a 6-10 stand overall while CBU falls to a 4-12 mark on the season.

On a 12-of-21 shooting performance from the floor, UWA’s Steven Sims led all scorers with 27 points, while Jonathon Poe collected 10 points, including three three-pointers. Norris ended with six points on the night, as Stone and Eddings finished with nine and eight points, respectively.

Brandon Corbin connected on 9-of-9 attempts from the charity stripe to record a team-high 15 points off the bench. Freshman Paul Walker shot an even 50 percent from the floor to finish with 14 points combined with a team-high 11 rebounds. Adam Heitzman matched the 50 percent from the floor effort to record 12 points of his own.

As a team, CBU would outshoot the UWA Tigers from every department tonight, as the Bucs shot 43.2 percent from the field. The Tigers could only connect at a 39.1 clip on the home court, while shooting an even worse 31.3 percent from three-point territory. The Bucs landed 35.3 percent of their attempts from downtown.

Christian Brothers University will return to Gulf South Conference action, Saturday, January 26th at 4 p.m. inside De La Salle Gymnasium, as the Bucs play host to No. 21 Delta State University. Homecoming festivities will take place at the half-time intermission.