The University of West Georgia’s men’s basketball team literally and figuratively cleaned the court last Thursday night when they hosted the Allen University Yellow Jackets from Columbia, South Carolina.
Coming off a tough three-game losing streak, including a hard fought loss to Division I power Auburn on Jan. 5, the Wolves bounced back to a 77-52 victory in their 2010 home opener.
Starting the game for the Wolves were guards Vojin Svilar and Gavin Field, forwards Jeremy Smith and John Pringle and center Julian Jones. Allen Coach Timard Gates started with guards Martavious Wimberly, Karim Rodriguez, and Byron Littlejohn. Forwards Jeremy Crawford and Chavis Darby rounded out the Yellow Jacket starting lineup.
Allen won the tip-off, but struggled to make their first several baskets. Both teams traded rebounds up to the 12:07 mark, leaving the Wolves with a close 9-8 score over the Jackets. This one-point lead would be the Jacket’s closest all night.
West Georgia head coach Michael Cooney called the team’s first timeout of the half. The timeout proved effective as within two minutes the Wolves nearly doubled their lead to 16-8, due to a fantastic steal and resulting shot by guard Deion Sims, as well as a slam dunk by guard Justin Cummings.
Svilar, the Serbian junior, contributed tremendously to the passing game, including an assist to Field who threw the ball up for a lay-up. Svilar was also a part of two other spectacular passing plays resulting in points for the Wolves. At about the 6:09 mark, he kept the ball from going out of bounds with a backward pass to Pringle who threw it down court to Smith for a dunk. Later, Svilar passed to Smith who threw it to Cummings for another dunk. The speedy Serbian also assisted guard Chris Colvin for a two-point shot.
In addition to his passing, Svilar also aided the officials in wiping up certain damp areas on the court’s surface with a towel. The officials had called a timeout at the 7:33 mark to wipe up the moisture.
The Wolves led 37-22 as the first half came to a close. Pringle led with eight points by racking up four two-point shots. Cummings tied in second place with Smith at seven points apiece, and Svilar finished the half with six points comprised of two shots taken from downtown. On the Yellow Jacket side, guard Demetrice Terrell led with eight points.
Coming out of halftime, the Wolves hit all six of their free throw shots within the first three minutes, a vast improvement from the first half. Around 16:00, Smith assisted Jones for a two-pointer. Later, Svilar netted a free throw and quickly got the ball back before connecting with Field again for a shot.
As the end of the game approached, the Yellow Jackets tightened up on defense and played more aggressive, but it was too little too late. Sims stole the ball for the second time in the game and dunked it, putting a period mark on the Wolves victory.
Pringle, the senior from New Jersey and UWG’s first Gulf South Conference Player of the Week for the 2009-2010 academic year, finished the game with 15 points. Svilar and Smith each finished with 10 points, and Field and Cummings finished with nine points. Terrell by far outshined his Yellow Jackets’ teammates with an amazing 23 points.
UWG beat Allen for the second straight time with Coach Cooney and ninth overall in the series history. West Georgia improved to .500 with an 8-8 overall record. Allen fell to 2-18.
West Georgia, having resumed conference play last Saturday against West Florida, will continue with contests against Alabama-Huntsville tomorrow in the Coliseum at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday on the road against West Alabama at 5:00 p.m.
 "Photo: Stefanie Heard")
Be the first to comment on this article!