Box Score

PENSACOLA, Fla.- The UWF Men's Basketball team built an early 18-4 lead and never looked back on their way to a 101-65 victory over Shorter at the UWF Field House on Friday night.

This was the first time that West Florida topped 100 points since February 25th, 2017 when they put up 110 also against SU. 

The Argos improve to 3-6 while Shorter falls to 1-7.

"We really needed this, we needed to feel good about a game", UWF Head Coach Jeff Burkhamer stated.  "To have a game like this will hopefully help us over the next few weeks because we see how we can play and what we can do and hopefully our guys come out more confident." We really ran our offense well and got good shots", Burkhamer continued.  "I thought we got some stuff off our terrific defense, which is always nice to get points off of run-outs."  

UWF was scorching from the field in the early going 21-37 (57 percent) in the first half behind 21 points from guard Tarik Mckelphin and 10 points from forward Conor Flanagan.  Mckelphin put up another huge night, tallying a career-high 33 points on 14-19 shooting, adding 10 rebounds, two assists, two blocks and four steals. The 33 points ties Mckelphin for 11th all-time in school history for points in a contest.

"He was terrific", said Burkhamer.  "He really did a good job of getting down hill and getting to the basket which is something that we have been talking to him about."

The duo led the Argonauts to their best first half scoring output in the Jeff Burkhamer era as the team totaled 56 points, besting the previous mark of 54.  The West Florida defense was also on display, holding the Hawks to 10-31 shooting (32 percent) while racking up six steals and blocking three shots in the opening period.

Second-half action was more of the same with the Argonauts continuing their efficient offense, tallying a 47 percent shooting overall and 43 percent mark from downtown, in the period.  On the night, UWF shot 44 percent from the three-point line, making a season-best 12 three-pointers, with Daniel Sofield going 4-5 from beyond the arc, to finish with 21 points.

Sharing the ball was the name of the game for the Argos, as 11 Argonauts got into the scoring column on 22 assists.  Akili Vining and Brett Carter Jr. combined for 19 points off the bench.

The home team was also dominant on the boards, grabbing a season-high 50 rebounds with Daniel Akuei and Sofield securing seven boards each to go along with Mckelphin's team-high of 10.

Jay Shropshire led all Hawks with 15 points on 6-13 shooting, while Charles Botchway added a game-high nine assists.

The two teams will be back at the UWF Field House tomorrow afternoon for the second game of the back-to-back.  Tip-off is scheduled for 3 p.m.

"We know that tomorrow will be a different challenge", said the UWF Head Coach.  "You see all over the country where a team will play a two-point game one night and a 30-point game the next so we know that we have to have the same energy tomorrow and come out and play because we know they will get after us."

For the latest information on the UWF Men's Basketball team, please visit GoArgos.com or follow the team on Twitter @UWFMensBBall.