The West Alabama and UAH men’s basketball teams stayed alive in NCAA postseason play on Saturday. Now, they face each other in the semifinals of the NCAA South Regional at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale.
No. 2 seed West Alabama and No. 3 seed UAH play on Sunday at 4 p.m. for the right to play in the NCAA South Regional final.
West Alabama 70, Tuskegee 64: Gulf South Conference Tournament champion West Alabama had to dig out of a 10-point halftime deficit to advance. West Alabama (27-5) outscored Tuskegee (20-9) by 16 points in the second half.
Tuskegee shot 50% from the field and hit five 3-pointers in the first half. The lead would have been 13 points at halftime, but West Alabama’s CJ Melton hit the team’s only 3-pointers in the first half with 23 seconds on the clock.
West Alabama took its first lead, at 54-53, on a 3-pointer by Shardarrion Allen with 7:19 left. Tuskegee regained the lead on two free throws by D’Anthony Pennington. The Golden Tigers maintained the lead until Thaddeus Williams hit a 3-pointer to give West Alabama a 61-60 lead with 3:36 left. West Alabama never trailed again.
Allen had 21 points, five rebounds, two assists and two blocked shots. Kuran Garner had 17 points and Melton had 11 points and 10 rebounds. West Alabama was 25 of 32 from the free throw line.
Steve Dulley had 15 points with four 3-pointers for Tuskegee. The Golden Tigers were 15 of 21 from the free throw line.
UAH 76, Emory-Riddle 69: It wasn’t easy, but the Chargers (26-7) led for most of the game. UAH had a 44-37 lead at halftime and built the advantage to as many as 12 points in the second half.
The Chargers shot 61% from the field in the first half and 51% overall. They were 6 of 13 on 3-pointers before halftime and 10 of 25 overall. Emory-Riddle (19-12) whipped UAH on the boards, 37-23, with only one Charger rebound coming on the offensive end. UAH forced 19 turnovers and won the points off turnover battle, 24-14.
Max Shulman had 18 points, five 3-pointers, five steals, three rebounds and an assist in 39 minutes. Jack Kostel had 15 points, Luke Burnett had 14 points and three steals and Chaney Johnson had 11 points and six rebounds.
Nova Southeastern 97, Miles College 55: The Sharks improved to 30-0 with the dominating first round win over Miles College (23-7). The top-seeded Sharks, who average 104 points per game, had a 22-point lead at halftime and pushed the advantage to as many as 47 points in the second half.
Miles College, the No. 8 seed, was led by Rodney Battle, who had 15 points, eight rebounds and two assists. Nova Southeastern outscored Miles College, 50-22, in the paint.
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