MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The Christian Brothers University men's basketball suffered from its least effective scoring night of the 2018-2019 season in a 65-51 loss to West Alabama in Canale Arena on Thursday night.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• The Bucs (17-8, 12-5 GSC) took their first and only lead of the night with the opening basket from Luke Rudy in the paint off an assist from Brad Miller. The Tigers answered on the following possession with a three-pointer to claim the lead and never looked back.  
• CBU fell into an early eight point deficit just under the 15:00 minute mark in the first half, but answered with five straight points to begin digging out of the hole. However, West Alabama (19-5, 14-3 GSC) always seemed to have an answer on the night, this time scoring three of the next four baskets to push the lead back to seven. Going into the break, the Bucs trailed 34-27.
• Christian Brothers University tried to answer the call after intermission, as Adam Dieball rattled in the Bucs first three-pointer of the night 23 seconds into the second half to trim the lead down to four. That was as close as it would get as UWA responded with a 15-4 run to take a 49-34 lead.
• A pair of free throws with 1:11 remaining in the contest gave the Tigers the biggest lead of the night (17); but in thanks to Easton Upchurch and Aiden Ruthsatz, the Bucs cut the lead down to 14 just before the final horn rang.

KEY STATS:

• Coming into the night, West Alabama led the Gulf South Conference in opponent scoring, and the Bucs were not able to change that. The Bucs had scored at least 60 points in the last 11 games. However, CBU matched its lowest scoring output of the season (51, vs. Lane on 12/5) against the Tigers.
• The Bucs also had the worst shooting night from behind the arc, converting only 13.6 percent (3/22). CBU shot 0-for-10 in the first half from behind the three-point line.
• Despite all of that, senior forward Adam Dieball posted his 13^th double-double of the season with 21 points and a season-high 15 rebounds.
• The only other Buc in double-figure scoring was Miller, who had 10 points, four assists and three rebounds in 36 minutes of action.

UP NEXT:

• The Bucs return to the friendly close out the home portion of the regular season schedule on Saturday when they face Montevallo. Senior Day is scheduled to tip-off at 3:00 p.m.