VALDOSTA, Ga. — No. 15 UWF men's basketball (25-3, 17-3 GSC) wrapped its regular season conference schedule the way it began it: with a win over a ranked Valdosta State squad. The Argos downed the No. 8 Blazers (25-3, 18-2 GSC) for the second time this season, scoring a 91-84 win at The Complex in Valdosta. DJ Thorpe led the way with a career-high 24 points. UWF will host the opening round of the GSC Tournament Tuesday in the UWF Field House.
"A great road win against a quality team," said UWF head coach Jeff Burkhamer. "To come in here and beat them on senior night after they had won 23 straight [at home] is a heck of a win for our guys. Really proud of their effort, proud of their poise in a great environment for basketball to keep the lead and finish the game."
Rashaan Benson and DJ Thorpe combined to score the Argos' first 25 points early. The duo's early-game outburst was aided by strong play late in the half from Jarrett Henderson. The Argos built the advantage to 37-33 at half. Thorpe led the team with 16 points, Benson added 12 and Henderson finished with seven.
"We turned the ball over early in the game, some uncharacteristic turnovers," said Burkhamer. "Our bigs really struggled early and because of that, our guards carried us."
Valdosta State equalized the score at 39-39 early in the second half before the Argos reeled off an 18-11 run. Furious rallies late by the No. 8 Blazers would keep the contest tight, but the Argos never trailed in the game's final 27:27.
Henri Ventoniemi scored all 12 of his points with less than 10 minutes remaining in the game, a flurry of scoring that had a huge impact for UWF down the stretch.
A Winston Morgan three trimmed the Argo lead to 83-79 with 1:02 to go before late free throws by Benson, Marvin Jones and Moter Deng helped to keep the advantage out of reach.
Valdosta State outshot the Argos from the field (.529 to .485) and from beyond the arc (.464 to .250), but UWF proved to be the better free throw shooting team. The Argos knocked down 21 of 29 (.724) free throws vs. 17 of 29 (.586) for the home team. UWF outrebounded VSU 39-30. The win was the first in program history vs. a top-10 team.
Thorpe finished with a career-high 24 points (9-13 FG, 1-2 3-PT FG, 5-7 FT). He also added four steals and three rebounds. Benson scored 18 points (6-13 FG, 3-6 3-PT FG, 3-4 FT) to go with three assists, three steals and one block. Both played all 40 minutes.
Deng scored 11 points and Marvin Jones added 10 to go with Ventoniemi's 12. Darryl Tucker scored nine points and added nine rebounds, narrowly missing his 11th double-double of the season.
The Argos will host a first-round GSC Tournament game for the first time in program history Tuesday. UWF will host the Montevallo Falcons (15-14, 10-10 GSC) at 7:00 p.m. Ticket prices are $10 for adults and $5 for seniors, military and children. The first 150 UWF students will be admitted for FREE. More information on the GSC Tournament is available on the conference's Tournament Central page.
"It's the first time we've ever hosted a GSC Tournament game," said Burkhamer. "We've won 25 games. We had a great crowd for senior night. We need all those people back and more. We need a great environment there for this tournament game to help us get up to Samford to play in the semifinals."
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