Weevils Fall at West Alabama With Last Second Shot
January 3, 2008

LIVINGSTON, Alabama – West Alabama’s sophomore guard Chris Malone hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to beat Arkansas-Monticello in a thrilling fashion for the Tigers, but heart breaking for the Boll Weevils. Final score of the contest was 62-65.
 
Malone was also responsible for tying the ball-game with 17 seconds remaining with another three-pointer. UAM held a 35-25 lead at halftime, but shot less than 30 percent in the second half, contributing to the loss.
 
In the first half, the Weevils shot close to 50 percent, which showed in the scoring difference, but after resting and re-grouping, the other rim was giving UAM some trouble.
 
Gulf South Conference West Division Player of the Week Raymond Wright (New York, N.Y.) was one rebound away from recording his fourth double-double in only six games played this season. The 6-9 junior forward finished second on the team with 12 points and first on the team with nine rebounds (six defensive).
 
Leading the offensive stats for the Weevils was sophomore Derek Easter (El Dorado, Ark.), who finished with 15 points and also pulled down seven boards. Easter continued his solid defensive play, recording a game-high four blocked shots. After 10 games, Easter is averaging close to two blocked shots per game.
 
Another double-digit scorer for UAM was junior Deron Brown (Paris, Kent.), who rounded out the UAM top scorers with 12 points, but contributed to the UWA win in the points off turnovers battle, committing seven turnovers.
 
Junior Marcus Baham (Paterson, N.J.) tied Wright for a game-high in rebounds after pulling down four offensive and five defensive boards.
 
After leading by 10 at halftime, UAM struck first out of the locker room, but that 12 point lead was the largest lead UAM had, giving way to the Tigers late. UWA’s largest lead was the final score of 62-65.
 
Tiger forward Maurice Taylor led all-scorers with 16 points after connecting on 7-of-11 field goal attempts and sinking his only two free throws.
 
With the loss, UAM drops to 6-4 overall this season, while UWA improved to 5-7. Also with this result, the season series between the two schools ended in a 1-1 split. UAM beat West Alabama 57-53 back on Nov. 26.
 
The Weevils are back in Monticello for its final home non-conference games, hosting Philander Smith on Saturday, Jan. 5 at 2 p.m., then hosting Central Baptist the following Tuesday. These games will be the last before UAM begins its 14 game GSC schedule.