MEMPHIS-The Christian Brothers University Bucs couldn't overcome their coldest shooting game in nearly two years Saturday afternoon in a 58-49 loss to West Alabama at Canale Arena.

In the beginning, both teams started out cold, combining for four turnovers and four missed shots before Jeff Larkin (Cincinnati, Ohio/La Salle HS) broke the ice with a three-pointer to put the Bucs (5-4, 3-3 GSC) on the board two and a half minutes into the game. Larkin ended the game with a three-pointer with 20 seconds remaining, but the Tigers (7-6, 3-3) dominated the 38 minutes in between.

After Larkin's three, the Tigers scored 14 straight points, capped by back-to-back Deontaye Ewing layups with 10:43 remaining in the half. Redshirt freshmen Tyler Estep (Cincinnati, Ohio/Reading HS) and Jordan Miller (Fulton, Ky./Fulton City HS) sparked a 9-0 answer for the Bucs, pulling back within 14-12. After trading runs, the Bucs again pulled within two at 20-18 when Trey Casey (Cincinnati, Ohio/La Salle HS) found Sidy Sall (Dakar, Senegal/Seeds Academy) for an alley-oop dunk with 3:39 remaining in the half.

The Bucs would not score again for more than nine minutes. Ewing made a three-pointer to start what became a 12-0 UWA run, and Justin Wright capped it with a layup with 15:11 remaining to give UWA a 32-18 lead. UWA led by as many as 16 points, at 43-27 with 7:59 remaining, before the Bucs began to rally.

Larkin found Ryan Fleming (Cincinnati, Ohio/La Salle HS) for a layup to start the run. After a Sall jumper, Drew Hildreth (Memphis, Tenn./Bolton HS) buried a three-pointer to bring the margin back within single digits at 43-34. After a pair of UWA baskets, Sall scored a tip-in. After making two free throws, Casey added a layup and Larkin scored another layup to bring the Bucs within 47-42 with 1:45 remaining. But the Tigers sank 7-of-8 free throws to go with a fastbreak layup on their press-break as they pushed the lead back to 13 points before Larkin scored a layup and a three to close the game.

Larkin scored 12 points to lead the Bucs, while Sall scored 10. Miller came off the bench to score a season-high seven points, all in the first half, to go with five rebounds. Casey scored eight points but grabbed a season-high seven rebounds to go with a school-record eight steals, which is tied for eighth-most in a game in GSC history.

Lleon Tillman led the Tigers with 15 points to go with 10 rebounds. Ewing scored 14, and Wright added 12 with 11 rebounds.

The Bucs shot just 33.3 percent (21-of-63) for the game, including 23.8 percent (5-of-21) from three-point range. They missed their first nine free throws, finishing just 15.4 percent (2-of-13) at the charity stripe. UWA shot 40.4 percent (21-of-52) for the game overall, and they were 73.7 percent (14-of-19) at the free throw line. UWA out-rebounded the Bucs 44-35, but CBU held a 15-13 edge in offensive boards and forced 19 turnovers while committing 15.

The Bucs return to action Dec. 31 at 3 p.m. as they host Harding for their final non-conference game of the season.