West Georgia wins fourth GSC Tournament title

3/5/2016 9:23:16 PM

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – West Georgia outpaced the defending GSC Tournament champions Alabama Huntsville, 99-82, with the help of All-Tournament selections Marcus Dortch and Iakeem Alston to claim the 2015-16 VisitSpaceCoast.com Gulf South Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament championship at the Pete Hanna Center.

BY THE NUMBERS

Teams	1	2	Total
West Georgia (22-8)	56	43	99
Alabama Huntsville (22-7)	38	44	82

Game Leaders	UWG	UAH
Points	Marcus Dortch \| 24 Jovany Austin \| 17 Iakeem Alston \| 14	Seab Webster \| 26 Brandon Roberts \| 13 Kip Owens \| 13
Rebounds	Jovany Austin \| 10	Preston Herring \| 6
Assists	Iakeem Alston \| 4	Greg Gardner \| 4

KEY MOMENTS
Marcus Dortch and Jovany Dortch scored 13 and 12 points, respectively, to pace West Georgia to a double-digit lead in the first half. For the third straight tournament game, UAH trailed at halftime, this time by 18 points. West Georgia expanded its lead to 24 points, 65-41, with 16:13 to play. The Chargers responded to chip away at the Wolves’ lead, outscoring West Georgia 33-13 over the next 11 minutes to make it a four-point game, 78-74. Dortch drained one of four 3s to spark an 8-0 run that pushed the game back into double digits. Iakeem Austin hit a free throw and a fastbreak dunk with just under two minutes to play to push West Georgia past the GSC championship game record for most team points en route to the 99-point finish.

QUOTABLE
"It's been a long time since we've been here. We're just very humble to have beaten a great champion … As much as we want to celebrate today, we know we're going to play them again at some point."
"We just started out on fire…As soon as we got on the floor for introductions, I felt something going on with this team. I just said, 'watch out. Get out of their way and let them play.'"
"They (UWG players) were phenomenal in the first half. It set the tone for the ballgame and got Huntsville on their heels. They wanted to play fast but we were able to play faster and I don't think they had anybody do that." – Michael Cooney, West Georgia head coach

NOTABLE
-West Georgia broke the record for the most points in a GSC Men’s Basketball Championships final with 99. The previous record was set by Christian Brothers in 2008.
- UWG was one point shy of matching its most points in GSC Tournament history. The then Braves scored 100 in their 1997 GSC semifinal game.
-West Georgia wins its third GSC Tournament title and first since 2002.
- The title is Michael Cooney’s second at West Georgia, but first as a head coach. He served as an assistant for Coach Ed Murphy when the then Braves won the title in 2002. UWG’s first title was in 1987.
- West Georgia’s bench scored 68 points compared to 47 points from the UAH bench.
- Delta State women's basketball joins the 2015-16 Gulf South Conference Champions Club.

UP NEXT
West Georgia earns an automatic bid to their 13^th NCAA Division II National Tournament and second consecutive. UAH, ranked No. 1 in the South Region, awaits an at large bid to its sixth NCAA Tournament in the last seven years. Tournament selections and region host sites will be announced on the NCAA Division II Men’s Basketball Selection Show Sunday night, March 6 at 9:30 p.m. CT on NCAA.com.

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Roy Bullock, Union
Devin Schmidt, Delta State
Seab Webster, Alabama Huntsville
Brandon Roberts, Alabama Huntsville
Marcus Dortch, West Georgia
Iakeem Alstin, West Georgia – Most Outstanding Player