PENSACOLA, Fla. – University of West Florida men's basketball (2-0) withstood a furious late effort by Fort Valley State (1-3) and survived an overtime nail-biter Sunday evening in the UWF Field House, pulling out a 75-68 overtime victory vs. the Wildcats. The win closed this weekend's GSC-SIAC Crossover.
Moter Deng poured in 20 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the field and 4-of-5 shooting from the line. He also added seven rebounds and two assists. Rashaan Benson scored 18 on 5-of-8 field goal shooting and 7-of-10 free throw shooting. The junior also registered six assists. Darryl Tucker notched his first double-double of the season, going for 18 points (6-8 FG) and 11 rebounds. Henri Ventoniemi contributed 14 points (5-8 FG) in 20 minutes of action.
UWF got four early points from Ventoniemi but trailed 9-8 at the first break. Out of the media timeout, the Argos exploded for a 14-6 run that left them with a 23-14 advantage. Benson picked up four points in the rally to put UWF ahead. Brian Chalifoux added 3, as did Moter Deng.
Fort Valley shrunk the lead to 34-30 heading to the locker room at half thanks in large part to 17 points (6-9 FG, 4-5 3-PT FG) from Jaylon McMillan. Deng finished the first half with 11 points. Benson pitched in six points and two assists. Tucker finished the first with six points and seven rebounds. Ventoniemi also notched six points in the first.
The Argos were outrebounded 18-13 in the first but outshot FVSU 56% to 38.7% to build the halftime advantage.
Ventoniemi keyed the offense to begin the second, scoring eight points to help UWF build a 48-41 lead with 11:33 to go. Benson would then break a 3-plus minute scoring drought for both teams with a three-pointer to put UWF up 51-41. The West Florida defense held FVSU to just one field goal from 11:39 to 4:10 to keep the lead safely in hand.
But Fort Valley refused to go quietly. The Wildcats rallied to close the period on a 23-13 run to tie the contest at 64-64 and force a five-minute overtime period. The Wildcats got a clutch tip-in by Walter Foster with 1.6 seconds left to force OT.
In the overtime though, the UWF defense stepped up, limiting the Wildcats attack to just one field goal to run away with a 75-68 win. Darryl Tucker notched four points and four rebounds in OT to finish with 18 points and 11 boards, his first double-double of the season. He also finished with two blocks.
The Argos made 25 of 54 field goals in the game (46.3%) while the Wildcats made just 22 of 63 (34.9%). FVSU won the rebounding battle 48-33, but the Argos forced 23 Wildcat turnovers.
The Argos return to action at home Nov. 15 vs. Miles College (0-2). Tip-off vs. the Golden Bears is slated for 7:30 p.m.
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