CARROLLTON, Ga. – Playing without the services of one of the key components that had helped them secure a berth in the Gulf South Conference tournament, the Shorter Hawks saw a strong start result in a disappointing finish as they fell 99-87 to conference foe West Georgia on Thursday night.

The loss was the third straight for the Hawks, who played without senior guard Travis Jones who suffered an injury during a practice on Wednesday, and leaves Shorter with a 16-8 overall record and an 11-7 GSC mark.

West Georgia, who entered the game tied with the Hawks for second place in the conference standings, improved to 17-6 and 12-6.

The Hawks found themselves in command throughout most of the first half, taking as much as a nine point lead eight minutes into the game thanks to some pinpoint shooting from beyond the three-point arc.

Heading up the long-distance barrage – the Hawks hit 56 percent of their three-point shots in the opening 20 minutes – was Cole Birchfield and Brock Rowan, who came off the bench to can three treys each and help the team take a 49-46 lead at the half.

But after the break, the Wolves began to get into sync, outscoring the Hawks 12-2 in the first four minutes of the second half with Alex Abreu hitting a three that gave West Georgia a 58-51 lead.

Shorter was able to regroup and closed to within two, 62-60, when Trevor McDade hit a pair of foul shots, but the Wolves proceeded to go on a 16-6 run and take a 78-66 advantage when Zach Taulien scored on a layup with 8:41.

The Hawks were never able to recover from the Wolves' run as West Georgia kept Shorter from getting back into its offensive rhythm and kept finding the range when they had the ball and eventually took their biggest lead of the night, 89-75, when Abreu converted two throws with 4:28 to go.

Kordario Fleming led the Hawks with 17, McDade finished with 13, Rowan and Birchfield had 11 each, and Matt Catanzano added 10.

Abreu headed up the Wolves' attack with a game-high 25 points, Deonte Stocks and Jovany Austin had 19 each, Taulien added 14 and Emory Bernard had 10.

The Hawks head back on the road Saturday with a conference clash at West Alabama, then return home to host Delta State (Feb. 19) and Mississippi College (Feb. 21) before closing out the regular season with a road trip to Lee on Feb. 28.