PENSACOLA, Fla. – Despite both
Domonique Alexander and
Johnny Stallworth setting career highs, West Florida came away with a 79-77 overtime victory over West Alabama in Gulf South Conference men's basketball action at the UWF Field House on Thursday.
The Argos improve to 12-6 on the season, moving to 7-6 in the GSC. The Tigers fall to 9-9 overall, dropping to 4-8 in the league.
"I have never seen a loss play out like this one in my entire career," UWA head coach
Allen Sharpe said. "We snatched defeat out of the jaws of victory."
After jumping out to an 11-5 lead, West Alabama committed four turnovers, leading to eight points for the Argos as part of an 11-0 scoring run that gave West Florida a 16-11 advantage.
The Tigers made up the deficit by converting their next six free throws, retaking the lead 17-16. West Alabama and West Florida traded control of the game over the remainder of the half, culminating with a
Toni Kumanovic three-pointer that put the Tigers in front 28-26 at the break.
UWA outrebounded UWF 23-11 in the first half, collecting 13 defensive boards to the Argos five. The Tigers converted on 90 percent of shots from the line (17-of-19), while the Argos hit 71 percent (5-of-7).
"Our game plan was to keep them off the glass, and we kicked them off the boards," Sharpe said. "We held them to 26 first half points, but fouled it up. We squandered an opportunity to take a conference road game tonight."
West Alabama held on to the lead for the opening nine minutes of the second half, falling behind 40-34 after three consecutive turnovers led to six UWF points in transition. However, Stallworth stopped the bleeding with back-to-back three-pointers to tie the game.
Trailing 55-49,
Gavin Robinson completed an old-fashioned three-point play to pull the Tigers within three points with three minutes to play.
Following the sixth block of the game from Alexander, Kumanovic sunk a field goal to even the playing field at 57-57.
Robinson stole the ball back on the following UWF possession, turning around for a slam dunk to put the Tigers back in front 59-57. Alexander stole possession back once more, setting up Stallworth for a three pointer that gave UWA a 62-58 lead.
With 22 second to go, Jason Laatsch drew the opportunity for a four-point play, but couldn't convert on the free throw, leaving the Tigers with a 62-61 lead.
Follwing two successful free throws from Robinson, UWF's Deangelo Legrier stepped to line, failing to hit either free throw, but Marvin Jones collected the rebound and pulled UWF back within one point on the tip-in.
A Tiger foul with 1.6 ticks left on the clock sent Darryl Tucker to the line where he hit one free throw but not the other, ending regulation with the score deadlocked at 64-64.
"We need guys to step up," Sharpe said. "Although we had some big plays to keep us in the game, we need to be making plays to win."
UWA coverted 23-of-27 (85%) free throws through 40 minutes of regulation, while UWF hit 16-of-26 (62%). However, West Alabama would connect on just 50 percent of their free throws in overtime.
With 1:56 to go in overtime, West Florida's Rashaan Benson converted two field goals, while Laatsch hit a three to give the Argos a 77-70 lead. Stallworth drained consecutive three-pointers for the second time of the night and added a free throw, drawing UWA back within one with four seconds to play.
Trailing by two points with one tick on the clock, Moorer took the inbound pass and threw up a three-point shot that fell short as time expired.
Stallworth led all scorers with 25 points. Robinson posted 20 points while collecting nine rebounds. Alexander finished with 15 points, 16 rebounds and seven blocks in the loss.
Tucker led the Argos with 21 points and 12 rebounds. Benson finished with 16 points, while Marvin Jones and Moter Deng each pitched in 11 points.
The Tigers will return home, facing off against Valdosta State on Saturday. Tip off at Pruitt Hall is set for 4 p.m.
