PENSACOLA, Fla. – Wendell Matthews scored 23 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to help UWF to a 69-62 win over Delta State at the UWF Field House on Thursday.
 
UWF (9-10, 5-10 Gulf South) earned its second-consecutive victory overall and defeated DSU for the third-straight time for the first time in series history.
 
Matthews shot 7-of-11 from the floor and 9-of-11 at the free throw line as the Argonauts connected on 46 percent as a team. 
 
"I thought Wendell was real active and aggressive at both ends," UWF head coach Jeff Burkhamer said. "I think his quickness bothered their big guys and allowed him to get to the basket more."
 
LaTrell Tate had 11 points and Jared DeHart finished with 10 points and five assists.
 
The back-and-forth first half had 10 lead changes and three ties before the Argos seized control late. UWF broke a 26-26 tie by outscoring DSU 8-2 in the final 2:16, closing with a 3-pointer and buzzer-beater from Jejuan Weatherspoon in the final 45 seconds.
 
UWF stretched the lead to 14 in the first six minutes of the second half, using a 7-0 run to force a DSU timeout. The Statesmen got to within four points but the Argos answered with a DeHart triple and a Weatherspoon bucket to go up 61-52 with 4:07 left. The lead was never smaller than seven the rest of the game.
 
"I thought our guys did a good job of keeping their poise when they made runs," Burkhamer said. "We got a good win on the road (at Shorter on Saturday) and then came home and played a team that's hard to play against and found a way to grind out a win."
 
UWF will return to action on Saturday against Mississippi College (11-8, 7-8). Tip-off is at 4:00 p.m. at the UWF Field House.