By ALEC ETHEREDGE | Sports Editor

MONTEVALLO – The Montevallo Bulldogs (3-1) hosted their first home game of the season against West Blocton on Monday, Nov. 28, after getting a late start to the season. The Bulldogs ended up winning their second game in a row with great offensive play 70-49.

For the second time on the season, Da’Shaunte Smith came up three assists shy of a triple double as he led the Montevallo.

The first two quarters were tightly contested with West Blocton going toe-to-toe with the Bulldogs. After one quarter of play the score was tied 13-13 and after the second quarter, the Tigers had themselves a 26-22 lead at the half.

“It was a very close game that went back and forth for the first three quarters,” Montevallo head coach Gregory Dickinson said.

Both teams held strong defensively in the first half, which suited West Blocton more as they needed a low scoring game to win. Unfortunately for the Tigers, Montevallo’s offense woke up in the second half.

The Bulldogs came out in the second half and caught fire on the offensive end of the floor dropping 24 points in both the third and fourth quarter. They outscored West Blocton 48-23 in the second half alone on their way to the 70-49 victory.

Smith had a game-high 30 points and for the second time this season had 10 rebounds and seven assists, which put him three assists shy of a triple double. Sam Bank and Deqarius Anderson both scored nine points, while Daqwan Bryant chipped in eight. The Tigers were led by Tyler Rutledge and Rodney Crymes with 14 points.