Box Score: PDF l HTML January 9, 2016 PENSACOLA, Fla. – The University of West Florida men's basketball team rolled by Gulf South Conference opponent West Alabama in a 78-70 win on Saturday. The Argonauts snapped UWA's three-game winning streak to improve to 3-9 overall with a 2-7 conference mark on the year.
The Argos were led by
Jelani Pruitt and
Austin Somerfield, who recorded their third and fifth double-doubles of the season, respectively. Pruitt went for a team-best 20 points, 14 rebounds and 5 assists in his second consecutive double-double, while Somerfield added 13 points and 11 boards. UWF owned the boards, outrebounding UWA 47-30 and putting in 17 second-chance points on 14 offensive rebounds.
West Florida scored the first five points of the game and stretched its lead to as much as nine in the first 10 minutes of the game. The UWF defense was key in the victory, as the team held West Alabama to just two makes in 16 tries from beyond the three-point line. The two 3s were a season low for the Tigers, who made 11 such shots against Lee and entered the game as one of the conference's best three-point shooting teams.
The Argos took a six-point lead into the half, as
Mario Stramaglia hit his second three-pointer of the night with just 16 second left. Stramaglia had a team-best eight points heading into the last 20 minutes, and six Argonauts scored in the first half. Five players would end the night in double-digit points, with Pruitt leading the way and Stramaglia adding 15 of his own.
Lendward Griffin added 11 points, and
Deangelo Legrier pitched in for 12 on 4-9 shooting.
West Florida extended the halftime lead to as many as 16 points in the second half, going on a 7-0 run that started with 15:33 remaining in the game. The Argos maintained an 8- to 12-point lead for most of the second half, while never trailing and seeing the lead fall to six points just once. In all, UWF held the lead for 38 of the game's 40 minutes, and UWA led for just 25 seconds.
UWF will host West Georgia on Monday, January 11, at 4 p.m. in the UWF Field House before visiting Valdosta State, North Alabama and Alabama Huntsville in the next two weeks.
For information on all UWF athletics, visit
www.GoArgos.com.
