PENSACOLA, Fla. – The University of West Florida men's basketball team used a strong run in the middle of the second half against Mobile to take a 77-67 win over the Rams on Thursday night in the UWF Field House. Jon Brown led UWF with 22 points, and Tarik McKelphin and Chinedu Okonkwo each scored 18 points.
 
UWF held the lead for the majority of the first half, going up by as much as eight with 9:34 remaining. But Mobile would cause trouble early on, grabbing the lead at 26-24 shortly thereafter, though the Argonauts took a 41-38 lead into halftime.  
 
West Florida came out hot in the first half, shooting 55 percent (16-29), and the team was led offensively by McKelphin and Brown. Brown had 14 points in the first 20 minutes, going 5-of-10 from the field and converting four of five free throws, while McKelphin shot 60 percent (6-10) from the floor.
 
West Florida went on a 19-3 run starting with 15:33 left in the game, getting nine points from Okonkwo during the run. The Argonauts stretched the lead from two points to 18 over 7:27 and shot 8-of-12 from the field while holding Mobile to 1-of-7 in the same time.
 
The biggest difference between the halves came in UWF's 3-point defense. After Mobile shot 46 percent from beyond the arc in the first half, the Argonauts held the Rams to just 1-of-11 (9.1 percent) in the second half.
 
Brown and McKelphin each played the full 40 minutes. Brown has played 40 minutes in five of his eight games, and he has scored double-digit points in each of them. Thursday marked the third time in the last four games that McKelphin has scored in double digits, and his 18 are a season-high.
 
West Florida will be back in action in the new year, heading to Valdosta State on January 2 to get back into Gulf South Conference action. Fans can keep up with the team by following @UWFMensBBall on Twitter.