West Alabama connected on 13 of 19 three-pointers, and defeated Valdosta State 83-69 in Gulf South Conference men’s basketball action Thursday evening.

West Alabama improved to 5-12 overall and 3-2 in GSC action with the victory, while Valdosta State fell to 7-8 and 1-4 in league play.

The Tigers connected on 6 of 10 three-pointers in the first half, then made 7 of 9 in the second half, and finished the game 13 of 19 (68.4 percent) from beyond the arc. Overall, West Alabama shot 56.1 percent in the game, while limiting VSU to just 41.1 percent.

The assault from outside began from the start for West Alabama, as Alquan Mendenhall opened the game’s scoring with a trifecta. Jared Woolfolk and Ryan Fitch added three-pointers over the next three minutes, as UWA raced out to an 11-4 lead less than four minutes into the contest.

Valdosta State closed to within 16-15 on a Michael Panaggio jumper with 10:38 to go in the first half, only to have the Tigers respond with six straight points to once again build a comfortable margin. The UWA advantage stretched to as much as eight points the remainder of the half, while the Blazers closed to within a single point once again when Josh Sparks connected on a jumper with 5:29 to go. However, West Alabama responded to each VSU charge with a spurt of its own, as it grabbed a 40-35 halftime lead.

The Tigers quickly pushed their lead into double digits in the second half, with a Woolfolk three-pointer giving West Alabama a 50-40 advantage less than three minutes into the frame. After Valdosta State scored four straight to pull within six points, UWA went on a 15-4 run to solidify its double digit lead.

VSU got no closer than 11 points the rest of the game, while a Drew Faile three-pointer, West Alabama’s final three of the night, gave the Tigers their largest lead at 82-63 with 3:07 remaining.

Sidney Harris hit 7 of 19 shots to lead Valdosta State with 18 points. Tristan Steele and Chris Rozier had 11 points each, and Will Alston added 10. The Blazers hit just 23 of 56 field goal attempts, including only 6 of 20 three-point tries.

Mendenhall, who made eight of his 11 three-point attempts, led all scorers with 26 points, while Woolfolk contributed 16, Fitch 11 and Kyle Belcher 10.

Valdosta State returns to action on Saturday at 8 p.m., when it hosts in-state rival West Georgia in GSC play at The Complex.