CARROLLTON, GA. –  UWF men's basketball (22-3, 14-3 GSC) clinched a home game in the first round of the GSC Tournament with an 85-71 win over West Georgia (11-13, 6-11 GSC) at The Coliseum Saturday.

"We got a lot of contributions from a lot of different guys," said UWF head coach Jeff Burkhamer. "Again, it's been the formula for us. We've been able to find ways to win because of good team basketball."

Darryl Tucker led the No. 17 Argos with 25 points (9-13 FG, 7-12 FT) and 16 rebounds. Rashaan Benson scored 14 points (3-13 FG, 1-3 3-PT FG, 7-8 FT) and dished seven assists while playing all 40 minutes. Marvin Jones added 15 points (5-9 FG, 2-5 3-PT FG, 3-4 FT), three rebounds and two assists. Moter Deng finished with 12 points (4-8 FG, 0-1 3-PT FG, 4-4 FT) and eight rebounds. Henri Ventoniemi scored eight points (4-7 FG) and grabbed five rebounds.

West Georgia led by as many as seven in the first, building a 42-35 lead with 2:10 to go before half. The Argos rallied though, finishing the first on a 7-0 run that featured a three from Marvin Jones and free throws from Tucker, Benson and Latrell Tidwell.

"We didn't do a good job in defensive transition in the first half. They were getting all down the floor and were able to make plays in the open court, which they're very good at doing," said Burkhamer. "And then I thought in the second half, we did a much better job of taking that away and were able to guard them a little bit better in the half court."

The Argos were led by Tucker at half. He scored 11 points and recorded seven rebounds in the opening period. Benson finished the first with nine points and three rebounds. Jones also had nine points, plus two rebounds. Ventoniemi scored six and registered three boards.

UWF continued its strong play early in the second, beginning the period on a 19-9 run. The Wolves cut the Argo lead to 70-65 with 6:52 to play before a layup and dunk by Tucker helped to rebuild the lead to nine. The Argos would go on to outscore the Wolves 9-2 in the game's final 2:45 to seal the win.

The Argos shot 27 of 57 (.474) from the field for the game. West Georgia shot 14 of 35 from the field in the first before the Argos defense held them to 9 of 31 (.290) shooting in the second. The Wolves shot 7 of 15 (.467) from deep in the first. UWF held them to just 1 of 7 (.142) shooting from beyond the arc in the second. UWF made 27 of 36 (.750) from the line overall while UWG shot 17 of 21 (.810).

Six of Benson's seven assists came in the second half. He has now recorded 23 assists over the last three games.

"I thought Rashaan played as well as he has in awhile," said Burkhamer. "He just did a lot of good things… He had a very good floor game from the point guard position."

Tucker has now recorded a double-double in three of the last four games. He leads the conference in double-doubles with 10 total.

"I thought Darryl was very good down inside. He played through a lot of hits and bumps and was still able to finish plays," said Burkhamer. "Another really good effort from him."

West Georgia was led by Marquill Smith, who scored 30 points (10-25 FG, 5-12 3-PT FG, 5-5 FT). He also grabbed 14 rebounds and three steals while playing 39 minutes.

Burkhamer noted that stringier Argo defense limited UWG's stars, Smith and Paul Turner, in the second half. Smith scored just eight points in the second half after scoring 22 in the first. Turner finished the game with 13 points.

"I thought in the second half DJ Thorpe did a great job of guarding Smith," he said. "We held him down in the second half after he had a great first half, and I thought Moter Deng did a terrific job of guarding Turner the whole game."

UWF has now won at West Georgia in back-to-back years for the first time since 2008-2009. The win guaranteed UWF men's basketball a home GSC Tournament game for the first time in program history.

"It's a great thing to have a home game. We've played well at home. We've got a terrific record at home over the last couple years," said Burkhamer. The Argos have suffered just one home loss since Dec. 30, 2016 and are 12-1 so far in the UWF Field House this season.

The Argos will next travel to Mississippi College (9-12, 6-10 GSC) Feb. 14. Tip in Clinton is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

For the latest information on UWF men's basketball, follow the team on Twitter @UWFMensBBall.

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