ORANGEBURG, S.C. – Stan Gill scored 22 points as the University of West Alabama men’s basketball team improved to 8-11 overall with a 58-56 non-conference victory over Claflin on Wednesday night at the Jonas T. Kennedy Center.

"We came out a little sluggish after a big conference win,” Tigers coach Rick Reedy said. “I thought the first few minutes showed that. We came out in the second half and played better.”

West Alabama was playing its second game in three days. The Tigers beat West Florida on Monday at Pruitt Hall, 82-72.

On Wednesday, West Alabama led 28-27 at the break and took the largest lead of the second half, 55-50, with 3:22 remaining. The victory was the second straight for West Alabama, which avenged a 48-42 loss to the Panthers on Nov. 29.

“We did a better job defensively in those final three minutes,” Reedy said. “We didn’t give up any second chance shots and we took care of the ball pretty well. The disappointing thing was that we missed some free throws down the stretch that could have put the game away.”

The Tigers return to Gulf South Conference action Saturday, Jan. 27 at rival Montevallo. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.