LIVINGSTON, Ala. –West Alabama snapped a six game losing skid with its largest margin of victory of the season in an 86-55 win over West Florida in Gulf South Conference Men's Basketball action at Pruitt Hall Saturday.

West Alabama improves to 12-15 overall and 8-13 in the GSC, with hopes of making the conference tournament still alive. West Florida falls to 6-18 and 5-16

"I will sleep a lot better tonight. It was a much better performance all the way around regardless of who are opponent is," said UWA head coach Allen Sharpe.

"We were just looking to play better basketball and I thought that we did tonight. Our offense was more aggressive in the first half, which made our offense better. Offense and defense go hand in hand. When your offense is playing better it puts more pressure on the other team to score.

"We got back to guarding better tonight and when we held them to 24 points in the first half, we felt like we were on the right track. Then we did a great job of continuing in the second half."

Of the 10 Tigers that saw action, eight scored buckets. Deontaye Ewing and Acie Vance combined for 48 of UWA's points.

Ewing shot 11-of-19 from the field and 5-of-5 at the free-throw line for 28 points. He had 16 points in the first half.

Vance totaled 20 points, hitting 6-of-12 from the field and 7-of-8 at the free-throw line. He went on to lead with six assists.  

The Tigers combined to shoot 31-of-57 (54 percent) from the field and 9-of-22 (41 percent) from the 3-point arc, while West Florida hit 17-of-49 (34 percent) and 4-of-15 (26 percent). 

Jake Jobling led the 3-point shooting for UWA, knocking dows 4-of-5 to finish with 12 points. Austin Somerfield led UWF with 14 points, followed by Mario Stramaglia with 10.

West Alabama out-rebounded the Argonauts 31-20, with Vance posting six boards.

"I hope that this will carry over into Thursday and extend our season, instead of ending here in the regular season," Sharpe said.

West Alabama men's hoops will wrap up the 2016 regular season at home when it takes on West Georgia on Thursday. A win over the Wolves, as well as a Shorter loss to Lee University, would seal a seat in the GSC Tournament for the Tigers. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. in Pruitt Hall.