BOX SCORE

PENSACOLA, Fla. – Tautvydas Kupstas and Xavier Washington each scored 19 points while the Argonaut defense forced 25 turnovers as the UWF men's basketball team defeated Pensacola Christian, 91-49, on Tuesday night at the UWF Field House.
 
West Florida improves to 2-1 on the season and will now head to Spring Hill for a battle with the Badgers on Saturday in Mobile at 4 pm. 
 
UWF only shot 40.5 percent from the field and 35.5 percent from three-point range but took advantage of 25 turnovers from the Eagles, resulting in 29 points.  UWF also outrebounded PCC, 52-41, leading to 15 second chance points to go along with 12 fast break points.  
 
Three different Argonauts had at least three steals and four different players recorded at least four assists.
 
"We really wanted to put a lot of pressure on them and I think our depth wore them down", stated UWF Head Coach Jeff Burkhamer.  "We wanted to pressure and trap and I thought we did that tonight."
 
12 out of the 13 Argonauts who participated in the contest ended up scoring, as UWF had a season-high 25 assists on 32 made field goals.  West Florida also connected on a season-high 11 made three-point baskets with Kupstas accounting for five of those.
 
"We do have really good shooters and Tautvydas is a really good shooter when he gets on a roll", remarked Burkhamer.  "Ankit (Choudhary) is also a great shooter and we have a lot of other guys who can make shots, including Eli Brown."
 
With the game tied at 10, midway through the first half, a three from Kupstas sparked a 23-7 run, capped off by a lay-up from Sano Rutatika to put the Argos up 33-17 at the 8:10 mark.  A jumper by Washington would give the Argonauts their largest lead of the half at 46-26, leading to a comfortable margin of 48-31 at the half.
 
It was more of the same in the second half after a free-throw by Michael Maumbe, one of 12 made by the Argonauts in the frame, boosted the lead up to 28, with 12:45 to go.  From there, UWF cruised to victory as the lead never got under 35 after the eight-minute mark.
 
Pensacola Christian shot 33 percent from the field and was led by Brandtley Koske's 15 points.  Malachi Herbster and Lucas Hernandez each had three assists.
 
For the latest on the UWF Men's Basketball Team, please visit GoArgos.com or follow the team on Twitter and Instagram @UWFMensBBall.