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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

MONTEVALLO – The University of Montevallo Falcons continue to stack wins in the final weeks before the playoffs, and they did so against two of their biggest in-state foes.

Montevallo defeated the West Alabama Tigers 88-74 on Thursday, Feb. 20 after beating the Auburn-Montgomery Warhawks on Saturday, Feb. 15 in a pair of home games at Central State Bank Arena.

In the game against AUM, Montevallo outpaced the Warhawks in the first half to build out a double-digit lead by the halftime break. The Falcons then used their 43-33 lead at the half to keep the visitors at bay and seal their third-straight victory.

Derek Moore led Montevallo with 24 points and nine rebounds while Jay Gillespie and Reese Gurner got into double figures with 11 points apiece.

On Thursday, the Falcons and Tigers went back-and-forth to start the game before Brandon Fussell put Montevallo in front with a 3-pointer. That kicked off a 12-2 run as the Falcons extended their lead to 19-9.

West Alabama responded by scoring five of the next six points to cut the deficit to five, but Jaylen Curry hit a 3-pointer to kill the Tigers’ momentum. Fussell took the lead back to double digits with another pair of 3-pointers as Montevallo led 31-17 with 5:49 left in the half.

While Curry’s long-range shooting increased the Falcons lead to 13, West Alabama briefly made it a single-digit deficit again. The teams traded blows in the final minutes before Montevallo went to the locker room with a 40-31 lead.

Fussell scored the first seven points of the half for the Falcons before the Tigers clawed back into it to get within seven points of the lead with 15:31 left. Tyson Sexton ended West Alabama’s 6-0 run before Fussell took over once again.

The sophomore was on fire from deep in the second half and went 3-for-3 on 3-pointers over the next five minutes. He scored all 11 of Montevallo’s points to increase the lead and he tied the school record with nine made 3-pointers as the Falcons went up 74-48 with 8:11 left.

While that proved to be Montevallo’s largest lead of the game, the Tigers couldn’t close the gap all the way as the Falcons took the 14-point win.

With the win, Montevallo set a new school record for the most conference wins with 13, breaking the previous mark set in the 2005-06 season.

Fussell dropped 35 points off 9-for-13 shooting from long range and 12-for-19 shooting overall. Three other Falcons joined him in double figures, including Camden Andrews with 11 points and four assists, Sexton with 11 points as well and Curry with 10 points and six rebounds.

Montevallo will face a tough test to end its home regular season slate as it will match up with the No. 4 team in Division II, the UAH Chargers, on Saturday, Feb. 22 at 4 p.m. at Central State Bank Arena.