 "Photo: Ron Besser")
Senior Maurice Thomas scored a career-high 28 points to lead the University of West Florida men’s basketball team to a 75-70 win at Lambuth on Saturday.
Thomas finished the game 8-for-14 from the field and 11-for-13 from the free throw line to lead the Argonauts to their 10th win of the season. The Argos improved to 10-14 with the win while Lambuth fell to 13-9.
Thomas also added six rebounds and five assists for a strong overall performance. Senior Jonathan Jackson also scored 11 off the bench, and junior Ken Mitchell scored nine points with a team-high nine rebounds.
The game started slow for both teams, as UWF went into halftime leading 33-22. The second half was a different story, as Lambuth outscored UWF 48-42 in the second period and still lost by five.
Lambuth did tie the score 56-56 with 9:01 left, but the Argonauts retook the lead and did not give it up the rest of the way.
UWF finished the game shooting 51.1 percent from the field, while Lambuth struggled to a 34.3 percent mark. The Eagles finished with a 39-37 rebound advantage, but most of the difference came on the offensive end, as Lambuth finished with 18 offensive boards compared to just five for UWF. Lambuth’s edge on the offensive boards led to 18 second-chance points for the Eagles.
Antwan Long led Lambuth with 16 points and four assists, while Shaun Merriewether added 15 points off the bench.
DRAKE REACHES 1,000: Senior guard Amy Drake of the women’s basketball team completed a three-point play early in the second half to score her 1,000th point at UWF, but the Argonauts’ comeback bid fell short in a 72-67 non-conference loss at Lambuth on Saturday.
Drake finished with 19 points and senior center Dominique Boykins led all players with a season-high 25.
The Argonauts fell to 13-13 overall with the loss, while Lambuth improved to 16-9 with the victory.
Boykins scored her 25 points on 8-for-13 shooting and 9-for-12 from the free throw line, and she also added a game-high nine rebounds. Drake poured in 19 points on 8-for-18 shooting from the field, and she had a strong overall game with six rebounds and five assists.
Lambuth led for the entire first half, and the Eagles went up by as many as 11 points. Drake went on a run to start the second half, starting with her three-point play with 19:06 on the clock.
She scored six straight points to start a 9-2 run by the Argonauts, pulling them within two points at 39-37 with 16:36 on the clock. Lambuth fought right back with 10 unanswered points, going back up by a game-high 12 points with 13:50 left.
The Argos finished the afternoon shooting 40.7 percent from the field, while Lambuth struggled to a 32.9 percent mark despite the win.
The Eagles held the advantage in rebounds as well, finishing with 50, including 18 offensive rebounds, compared to UWF’s 41 total boards and eight on the offensive side. The Lambuth defense also forced 20 UWF turnovers, compared to 15 for the Argonauts.
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