VALDOSTA, Ga. – Freshman Daniel Sofield turned in a highlight performance in his second career game, but his 21-point effort would not quite be enough for the University of West Florida men's basketball team on Saturday evening. The Argonauts dropped a tight matchup against Fort Valley State 63-58, despite a valiant second-half effort.
 
Lawrence Williams also turned in a good effort, scoring 14 points and picking up 8 rebounds, which tied him with Sofield and Tarik McKelphin for a team-high on Saturday.
 
For a second consecutive night, the Argonauts got behind early only to outscore their opponent in the second half. UWF was ice-cold in the first half and trailed by as many as 15 before cutting the deficit to 10 at the half. Following halftime, West Florida shot 39 percent from the field and made six 3-pointers in the final 20 minutes, with Sofield scoring 18 while shooting 5-of-8 from beyond the arc.  
 
UWF played through some encouraging stretches on Saturday, starting when the Argonauts went on a 7-2 run over the final four minutes of the first half. That would give West Florida some momentum and cut the FVSU lead to 30-20.
 
West Florida went on another run, outscoring FVSU 12-2 over a three-minute stretch in the middle of the second half behind five points from Williams and some solid defense that held the Wildcats to 1-of-6 shooting.
 
The blue and green made a final charge near the end of the second half, outscoring Fort Valley 15-8 and tying the score for the only time in the game with 3:43 left. The run would not be enough, however, and FVSU converted on three of its next five shots to take the final 63-58 win.
 
Through two games, Sofield leads UWF in minutes played (34.5 per game) and scoring (13.5 ppg).
 
West Florida will face Webber International on Wednesday at 7:30 pm in the UWF Field House. Fans can keep up with the team by following @UWFMensBBall on Twitter.