Wentz and Hawkins pace ACU offense in neutral-site loss to West Alabama

Friday, November 29

Baltimore, MD

6:30 p.m.

Abilene Christian

2-7

West Alabama

2-2

West Alabama

Abilene Christian

Photo by: Jeremy Enlow

Wentz and Hawkins pace ACU offense in neutral-site loss to West Alabama

11/29/2013 10:04:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

TOWSON, Md. - Junior Harrison Hawkins scored over 20 points for the second time this season and sophomore Parker Wentz buried five 3-pointers in the Wildcats' 77-67 loss Friday night to West Alabama at Towson's SECU Arena.

The Wildcats and Tigers are two of four teams playing in suburban Baltimore this weekend during the latter stages of the Battle 4 Atlantis Mainland Tournament. ACU will conclude this month-long event - which also included its games at Iowa and Xavier - Saturday at 1 p.m. (ET)/12 p.m. (CT) vs. host Towson.

Despite making the same number as field goals as West Alabama - and four more 3-pointers - the Wildcats never carried the lead tonight. Wentz twice tied the score at 13-13 and 16-16 on 3-pointers midway through the first half, but West Alabama promptly countered with a 6-0 run after his second one went in at the 10:02 mark.

James Pegues made it a one-point game at 22-21 with 5:49 remaining in the first half, but on ACU's next trip down the court he fouled Jarrell Byrd, who went on to sink his team's eighth and ninth free throws of the half.

Incredibly, West Alabama made all 11 of its free throw attempts in the first half and all but three of 33 for the game to finish at .909 shooting.

By comparison, ACU missed nine of 25 (.640) attempts that included eight bricks over the final 20 minutes.

West Alabama's frequent trips to the charity stripe allowed them to enter the break up by four points, 31-27, as the Wildcats held the Tigers to just 37.5 percent shooting (9-24) from the floor. But come the second half, UWA shot 17 points better (.545) while going to the foul line an additional 22 times, which helped push its lead all the way to 15 points at 62-47 and 6:18 remaining.

The Wildcats, however, had one last run left in them and made things quite stressful for the Tigers as they cut their double-digit advantage down to five (67-62) points thanks to an 8-0 run that took less than two minutes.

Consecutive layups by Jacob Lancaster and LaDarrien Williams dropped the West Alabama lead down to nine points and then Hawkins trimmed it to seven with a pair of free throws. Freshman Michael Grant capped the run with a layup, but missed his free throw that would have made it a four-point game.

ACU then watched West Alabama score five of the next six points, including a slam dunk by Mychael Bester that was immediately followed by a block from Byrd and two more free throws from Desmond Raymond that made it 71-62 with 2:12 to go.

Wentz buried his final 3-pointer - and the team's final field goal - with 2:00 left as the Tigers finished the game on a 6-1 run.

Byrd tonight registered a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds, and was one of five Tigers to reach double figures in scoring along with Sandy Underwood (22), Aaron Cobb (13), Bester (11) and Raymond (13). Cobb and Raymond were a combined 13-of-13 from the free-throw line, while Bester was 7-of-8.

Hawkins' 21 points were his second-most points since joining the Wildcats. He had 26 in his ACU debut vs. Duquense.

Hawkins also came away with three steals, while Williams pulled down eight boards and assisted on eight baskets. Both of Williams' totals served as a single-game high for this season.