Box Score By Jim O'Hara
 
ROME, Ga. – They shot the ball as well as they have all season, held their own under the glass and did just about everything they had to do.

But when the final buzzer sounded Sunday afternoon, the Shorter Hawks came up short for the sixth straight time when visiting West Alabama came away with an 86-82 Gulf South Conference decision at the Winthrop-King Centre.

The setback, which gives the Hawks an 8-14 overall record and a 5-11 GSC mark heading into a three-game road set, overshadowed a stellar performances from senior Dedric Ware, who ended the contest with a game-high 35 points in 30 minutes of play, and red-shirt freshman Jordan Jacks, who turned in his 12^th double-double effort of the season producing 26 points and 12 rebounds.

Thanks to some pin-point shooting, the Tigers (14-8, 11-5) made the most of their possessions early in the game, establishing as much as a 15-point lead when Jarrod Woolfolk hit a three-pointer to give his team a 38-23 edge with 5:31 to play in the first half. Woolfolk finished the game leading UWA with 30 points.

Shorter, however, with Ware leading the way, refused to buckle and pulled to within seven, 40-33, when he connected on a trey to keep his team within striking distance and at the half the Hawks faced a 49-41 deficit.

The Hawks remained in the hunt after the intermission and pulled with within four, 58-54, when Jacks hit a basket in the lane with 14:33 to play, but saw Ware go down a minute later when the point guard hit the floor hard and leave the game. He did return to play but was held scoreless the rest of the way.

That didn't stop the Hawks, as Ware's teammates picked up the void and with 9:57 left to play, Steve Johnson hit a foul shot to create a 66-66 deadlock.

West Alabama responded with an 8-0 run only to see the Hawks charge right back to tie the game 77-77 and after SU's Brock Rowan took a charge on the defensive end of the court junior Derrick Martin drove inside to score and give Shorter a 79-77 advantage, their first lead since opening two minutes of the game.

After the two teams traded baskets, Brandon Pullman layup with 1:01 to go gave the Hawks an 81-80 edge until Woolfork gave the Tigers the lead for good when he hit two shots at the foul line with 43 seconds remaining.

West Alabama, which wound up hitting 23 of its 26 free throws, sewed up the game at the line sinking all six of its foul shots in the final seconds. The Hawks had an opportunity to tie it one more time with 4.4 seconds left but Pullman saw both of his attempts miss the mark.

Shorter, which connected on 51 percent of its shots, wound up sinking 13 of 21 shots at the foul line.

Ware and Jacks were the lone two Hawks to reach double digits, with Ware scoring 29 of his points in the first half while Jacks scored 16 of his points in the final 20 minutes.

Underwood joined Woolfolk in double figures with 24 points, 19 of those in the first half. The win was the fourth straight for the Tigers, who hold down the No. 2 spot in the GSC rankings.

The Hawks will turn their attention to a three-game GSC road trip visiting West Florida in Pensacola on Thursday, at Valdosta State next Saturday and facing West Georgia in Carrollton on Feb. 25, before returning home to close out the regular season at home on March 1 hosting conference rival Lee.