LIVINGSTON

&8212; The University of West Alabama football team fell in a hard fought 20-9 decision to ninth-ranked Delta State on the Tigers homecoming and senior day at Tiger Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

A 17-yard pass from Garrett Dewitt to Eric Marshall with less than six and a half minutes remaining in the third quarter gave the nationally ranked Statesmen a 10-9 lead.

UWA went three and out on its first possession, but recovered a Jermaine McRoy fumble on the punt return and marched 23 yards on six plays to take a 3-0 lead on a 22-yard field goal by Mitch Warfield.

The Tigers then held DSU to a three and out and took their third possession of the game 43 yards on four plays, scoring on a Terry Allen 1-yard rush. Warfield missed the extra point and the UWA lead stood at 9-0.

Trey Adams put the Statesmen on the board on a 32-yard field goal, but the Tigers still maintained the lead 9-3 at the intermission.

Adams added a 24-yard field goal with 45-seconds remaining in the third quarter and Marshall caught his second touchdown pass on the game from Chad Schroeder with 6:23 left in the contest to wrap up the scoring.

Cole Mason led the Tigers on the ground with 81 yards on 18 carries. Allen posted 47 yards on the ground behind 16 carries. Greg Smith was the catalyst on defense with 15 total tackles and two pass break-ups for UWA.

West Alabama will close out the season on Saturday, Nov. 10, as the Tigers travel to in-state rival and No. 10 North Alabama. Kick-off is slated for 6 p.m.

Brandon Glover contributed to this article.