CLEVELAND, Miss. – The West Florida men's basketball team was unable to overcome a hot-shooting Delta State squad, falling 74-48 at Sillers Coliseum Thursday night.
 
UWF (3-16, 2-14 Gulf South) was led by freshman Rashaan Benson's 16 points. Junior Justin Williams made 3-of-4 from behind the arc for nine points.
 
UWF shot 40 percent from the floor and committed just 11 turnovers, but saw DSU score 19 points off those opportunities.
 
Delta State (15-7, 10-6) shot 48 percent and had five players in double figures.
 
After falling behind 8-0 to open the game, UWF battled back and trailed 23-16 with 7:43 left in the half. Delta stretched its lead to 31-18 over the next four minutes before UWF closed the frame on an 11-5 run. A Williams 3-pointer in the final minute trimmed the deficit to 36-29.
 
After the half, Delta again opened play on a scoring run, putting up the first eight points of the frame for the early momentum. They eventually got a number of transition dunks and extended the margin to a 59-35 at the midway point of the half.
 
UWF will return to action on Saturday when it faces Mississippi College (6-12, 5-11) at the A.E. Wood Coliseum in Clinton, Miss. Start time is 4:00 p.m.