PENSACOLA, Fla. – The University of West Alabama men's basketball team dropped its Gulf South Conference season opener to West Florida, 75-73, at the UWF Field House on Thursday. In a furious finish, the Tigers (8-8, 0-1 GSC East) evened the game at 73-73 with 1:01 left in the contest on a jumper by Chris Davis. UWF's Maurice Thomas nailed a jumper with 23 seconds left to re-gain the lead. Thomas was key on the defensive end as well after blocking Alquan Mendenhall's three-point try. UWA's Ryan Fitch caught the deflection, but his shot rattled off the rim to give the Argonauts the GSC opening win and moved to 7-6 on the season. Mendenhall almost single-handily brought UWA back from a 16-point second half deficit. The Camden, Ala.-native led all scorers with 23 points, including 21 points from beyond the three-point line. Mendenall's point total ties a season-high in points in which he set earlier in the season at Delta State. UWF led from the tip and stretched the lead out to double digits at the 11:23 as Christopher Evans' jumper gave the Argos a 14-4 edge. The Argos took their largest lead of the affair at 29-12 with 6:46 left in the opening period. UWA trimmed the lead down to five points, 31-26, with just over two minutes left in the half. UWF quickly pushed the lead back out to double digits as it took a 39-28 lead into halftime. UWF placed all five starters in double figures in scoring, led by Ken Mitchell's 19-point effort. Jonathan Jackson added 14 points. Senior Jason Swanson posted 14 points in the setback along with a team-high nine rebounds. Fitch, a red-shirt freshman from Birmingham, Ala., turned in a season-best 12 points in his first start of the season. Senior guard Richard Sirju, UWA's leading scorer, was held to just three points in the affair. His lone basket came midway through the second half. UWA steps away from conference play on Saturday, Jan. 9, hosting Southeastern Bible College. Tip off is set for 2 p.m. at Pruitt Hall. UWA bounced SEBC earlier in the season, 98-71, in Birmingham, Ala.