Jacksonville, Alabama – The West Georgia Wolves saw a hot start go for naught here Tuesday night against Division I Jacksonville State. The Wolves dropped a 71-62 decision to the Gamecocks at JSU’s Mathews Coliseum.
The Wolves used splendid first half defense to vault to a 32-23 lead at halftime. West Georgia held the home team to only 25.8% shooting (8-31) during the game’s first 20. Those numbers, however, changed after intermission.
Jacksonville State rebounded with a 56.7% second half effort, nailing17-of-30 field goal attempts. The hot shooting helped the Gamecocks rally from what was a 12-point deficit (38-26) with 16:42 to play.
“We kind of wilted in the second half,” said a disappointed
Craig Roden. The Wolves’ coach added, “Our short rotation caught up with us; three games in five days was just too much.”
Dominic Cranford paced the Wolves with 22 points, and
Ashley Huff added 19 as two Wolves scored in double figures. Huff and
Shaneka Bates led on the boards with eight rebounds each. Jolie Efezokhae led JSU with 18 points and eight rebounds.
The loss dropped the Wolves to 4-3 on the season, while Jacksonville State improved to 1-6.
West Georgia returns to action this weekend in the Days Innvitational Classic in Valdosta. UWG faces Nova Southeastern (Fla.) in a rematch of last year’s NCAA Tournament game won by the Wolves. Saturday, UWG faces GSC West rival Henderson State. Action both days begins at 1:00 p.m.