MEMPHIS, Tenn. –
Moter Deng tied his career high with 26 points to help lead No. 15/14 UWF past No. 18 Christian Brothers, 76-66, at Canale Arena on Monday.
Deng had 18 on 7-of-8 shooting after halftime, including a stretch of 10 during a 12-2 run that put UWF ahead 55-45 and created some much needed separation in a game that had seen 12 lead changes and seven ties up to that point. He also added a game-high eight rebounds.
"He's had a great year and kind of got going and felt good," UWF head coach
Jeff Burkhamer said, "And you could tell when he got it and turned, he was going to shoot it and make it. I thought he played a terrific game."
UWF (16-1, 8-1 Gulf South) shot a season-high 58 percent while improving to 5-1 on the road and 16-0 when scoring at least 70 points. The win also marked the first at CBU in eight all-time games dating back to 2012.
"Tonight was two good teams battling all the way for 40 minutes and we had a little spurt at the end of the game that opened it up for us," Burkhamer added. "It was a hard fought win and I'm really proud of our guys to win on the road in a tough place to play. I thought we defended hard and gave great effort late in the game."
In addition to Deng,
DJ Thorpe had 12 points with a pair of 3-pointers, while
Darryl Tucker added 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting and seven boards. The Argos held a 41-25 edge on the glass and a 44-22 scoring margin in the paint.
CBU (13-4, 5-4) was limited to just 37 percent shooting – 10 percent below its season average. The Bucs stayed close with 11 3-pointers on 36 attempts. Joe Laravie led all players with 27 points with five 3-pointers and five steals in 40 minutes.
Neither team led by more than four points before UWF's big second-half run. The teams were tied at 34 at halftime.
Burkhamer was complimentary of the road trip that saw the Argonauts defeat Union and CBU to continue their strong season.
"We beat two teams (this weekend) that we had not beaten in a long time so its nice to be able to go home and have a couple of home games."
The Argonauts will close out the opening half of the GSC slate on Thursday night when they host West Georgia at the UWF Field House. The game is scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. and will follow the UWF-UWG women's game.
There are a number of promotional items being conducted with the doubleheader – an Argo Pantry/Whataburger Canned Food Drive, a T-Shirt Giveaway, a triple Argo Armada Points Night and it's a "Green Out!"