University of West Florida issued the following announcement on Dec. 13.
LaTrell Tate came off the bench and scored 18 points in Monday's conference win
With a late surge in the second half the UWF Men's Basketball team defeated the Shorter Hawks 88-75 on Monday night. The Argos are a perfect 3-0 in conference play, improving their overall record to 9-1, with eight wins on the road.
Daniel Sofield once again led the way for West Florida with 21 points. Close behind was LaTrell Tate with 18 points coming off the bench.
"We were very fortunate to win," Coach Jeff Burkhamer stated. "Shorter played harder and tougher than we did for 35 minutes. LaTrell Tate bailed us out with some big shots and we finally got a couple of stops late."
UWF was first to get on the board with a three-pointer from Sofield. The Shorter Hawks responded with a three of their own to tie the game and eventually take the lead at the first timeout. The Argos and Hawks went back and forth the entire game with eight lead changes and 10 ties.
In the first half West Florida was 10-27 on 37 percent shooting. Shorter narrowly outshot the Argos in the first half, going 12-32 from the field, shooting 37.5 percent. Just before the first half ended Tate Mulkey scored a layup to even the score at 35 apiece. At the half Kendall Bynum led the way with nine points and Jackson Henningfield had seven.
To start the second half West Florida came out hot and took a quick lead. Wendell Matthews started the second half scoring with back to back layups and a trip to the free throw line. Shorter once again found a way to respond and the second half was a game of runs with multiple ties and lead changes.
In the second half the Argos improved their field goal percentage to 58.6 percent going 17-29 from the field. Shorter struggled shooting the ball going 12-32 on 37.5 percent shooting. The Hawks were 15-19 from the free throw line.
Overall West Florida was 27-56 from the field on 48.2 percent shooting. As a team the Argos had seven three-pointers, Sofield and Tate each had two three-pointers. The team had 37 rebounds, Jejuan Weatherspoon had a team high nine, followed by Matthews with eight.
The true difference in the two teams were points that came from the bench. West Florida had 52 points come from the bench. LaTrell Tate had 18, Conor Flanagan with 10, Kendall Bynum had nine, Jackson Henningfield added in eight and Tate Mulkey and Jejuan Weatherspoon had five and two respectively.
"We had to play through foul trouble and adversity to win," Burkhamer said. "Proud of our guys getting to 9-1 with eight road wins. We have to learn from this game and must continue to improve."
Leading the way for Shorter was Mark Wilcox Jr, with 28 points. Ralph Barnett led the team in rebounds with 10. As a team Shorter was 24-64 from the field on 37.5 percent shooting. The Hawks had 38 rebounds and four three-pointers.
Up next West Florida will face the Auburn Montgomery Warhawks at the UWF Field house on Saturday, December 18. Tipoff is set for 4 P.M. Live Stream | Live Stats
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