Atlanta, GA - Leading by two with 10 seconds left, West Georgia freshman
Brett Seljak stepped to the free-throw line in Forbes Arena against Morehouse. The Aussie buried two shots to put the West Georgia Wolves up 63-59 and secure the Wolves' first win of the 2009-10 season.
"We made enough plays to pull this one out," said head coach Michael Cooney. "The biggest things that helped us was our rebounding and defense and if we can play like that the rest of the season, we will be in good shape."
In the rebounding department, the Wolves were out-rebounded by 24 in the opener on Sunday, making that area point of emphasis against Morehouse. Cooney's charges responded by taking the Maroon Tigers to the glass, out-rebounding Morehouse by 29 in Wednesday's victory.
Things started well on the night, as the Wolves led nearly from the outset. West Georgia took their first lead of the night at 4-2 and never trailed again in the contest.
The lead grew to as many as 10 in the first half, but Morehouse rebounded from the initial shock, pulling back to within five at 24-19 with 6:38 left in the period. West Georgia went back to the boards, again using strong defense and solid rebounding to push the lead back out to seven at 34-27 as the first half ended.
Senior
John Pringle led the way in the opening period with eight points and nine rebounds for the Wolves.
In the second half, the Wolves asserted themselves again, pushing the lead back out to as many as 14 with five minutes remaining in the game. But Morehouse, defending their home court, roared back in the waning minutes.
With just under a minute left in the game, Malcolm Frank hit a layup that pulled the Maroon Tigers to within two points at 61-59. That set up Seljak's late-game heroics and the game-winning free-throws.
The Wolves' final game of the season opening three-game road swing comes on Saturday afternoon at Georgia College and State. Tip-off is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.