PENSACOLA, Fla. – No. 12 UWF men's basketball (27-3) continued its historic push by defeating Christian Brothers 68-58 at the Pete Hanna Center in Birmingham, Ala. Saturday night by a final of 68-58. Marvin Jones and Darryl Tucker each scored 14 points, and Moter Deng registered a double-double (10 points/11 rebounds). Five Argos finished in double figures.

UWF will now advance to the VisitSpaceCoast.com GSC Tournament championship game to face off against Delta State. Tip in the championship game is slated for 3:30 p.m.

"We thought we'd have to rebound the ball really well with them," UWF head coach Jeff Burkhamer said. "We just had some guys make some shots tonight that kept the lead and allowed us to win the game down the stretch."

The Argos fell behind 18-8 out of the gate but were able to battle back to take a 32-29 lead at halftime. Jones led the team with nine points at half. Tucker added eight plus five rebounds.

"I thought we missed some pretty good shots," Burkhamer said of the team's slow-going early. "It wasn't that we took bad shots. We just missed some pretty good shots. They made some shots. We didn't do a great job early in the game defensively… But I thought we made some adjustments and did a much better job as the game went on."

Rashaan Benson scored all 11 of his points in the second half as UWF lengthened its lead. The Argos shot free throws extremely effectively in the game, especially late. The team knocked down 26 of 29 (.897) free throws. The mark was the team's most efficient of the season when attempting at least 13 free throws in a game.

DJ Thorpe scored 13 points while dishing four assists and grabbing four steals. Jones added five steals to his 14 points. Tucker finished with eight rebounds to accompany his 14 points. The double-double was the fourth of the season for Deng.

The Bucs outshot the Argos from the field (.442 to .346), but UWF's excellent free throw shooting helped to clinch the win. The Argos outrebounded the Bucs 31-28.

"We really closed out the game by making free throws," said Burkhamer. "We shot probably the best we've shot all year at the free throw line."

The GSC Tournament championship berth is the first in program history. UWF will face off against Delta State. The Statesmen defeated No. 14 Valdosta State 63-59 in the other semifinal game.

Tip in the championship game is slated for 3:30 p.m. For the latest information on the Argos, follow the team on Twitter @UWFMensBBall.

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