The UNA men’s basketball team lost a crucial road game to the West Georgia Wolves Feb. 12.

The Lions were pushed to the limit with early fouls by junior center Marcus Landry, who battled with foul trouble the whole game and ultimately made a big difference in the contest. The loss puts the Lions in fourth place of the Gulf South Conference East Division at a 4-5 record in conference and an 11-14 record overall.

“Marcus picked up two fouls early and we brought in Nick [Luttrell],” head coach Bobby Champagne said. “He also picked up two fouls. We were forced to play with five guards almost the whole game.”

The game started off well for the Lions as junior guard Beaumont Beasley and senior guard Trent McCants made threes to jump out to an early five-point lead on the Wolves. The Lions were in control early in the first half with senior guard Ricky Davison recording seven of his 17 points at the 13 minute mark of the first half.

West Georgia took the lead 16-15 with 12:30 remaining in the first half, and maintained the lead through halftime; but a huge three by Davison as time expired kept the Lions close as they trailed 28-27 at the half. The Lions held West Georgia to only 27 percent shooting in the first half, but the key was the free throws, as the Lions only attempted two free throws to West Georgia’s 16 attempts.

“We played poor defense, got out of position and sent them to the line too much,” said Champagne, “It was almost identical to the first game against them.”

The fouls continued for the Lions, as Landry picked up his third foul three minutes into the second half, and it allowed the Wolves to take advantage of the lack of size in the paint.

“Marcus Landry is a key player in our system, and it hurts us if he gets in foul trouble,” junior forward Sam Buxton said. “We are reasonably small as it is so when he gets in foul trouble it’s a definite struggle.”

West Georgia controlled most of the second half and went on an 11-2 run, giving the Wolves a 64-53 lead with 6:43 remaining in the game. With UNA’s big men in foul trouble, the defense seemed to slip away as Da’ron Sims took control, recording 24 points in the paint for the Wolves.

After being down 12 with a minute to go in the game, the Lions made a late surge with big shots by Beasley and freshman guard Wes Long. The Lions fell too far behind and were unable to recover as West Georgia defeated UNA 79-73.

Beasley played a huge role for the Lions as he lead the team with 18 points and seven assists. “He scored for us,” said Champagne. “He wasn’t very efficient on offense, but he made a couple of big shots. That was the first game all year our effort wasn’t as good, but we fought hard. We got some games coming up, and we got to win.”

The Lions hope to rebound with some key games today at Lambuth, at 8 p.m., and also coming back home against West Georgia Saturday Feb. 19, at 3 p.m.