Feb. 2, 2008
PENSACOLA, Fla. - If you like close exciting basketball games, then the UWF Men's Basketball team is providing just that. However, the Argos came out on the short end for the fifth time in the last six conference games. West Florida had the momentum for most of the second half, and had taken their first lead with 8:05 to go, on a driving layup by Ryan Henry. However, just a couple minutes later, the Blazers scored five straight and then hung on to win 67-65.
The Blazers were hot early, racing out to a 23-8 lead; however, the Argos put on a 14-4 run to close with five points, and then ended up down 36-28 at halftime. The Blazers hit on five of their first seven three point attempts before cooling off a little to finish with seven of 16 for the first half. Deondre Boynton scored the first eight points for the Argos, before Josh Jackson got the rest of the Argo offense going with a three pointer following a time out. Charles Bouie scored eight points in the final nine minutes of the half, and Kenny Holmes corralled eight first half rebounds.
Defensively, the Argos were right on pace, holding Valdosta State to only 35% shooting. It was the three-point shooting that gave Valdosta State the early advantage, and then free throws in the second half. West Florida Point Guard Deondre Boynton led all scorers with 18 points. Meanwhile, Kenny Holmes earned a double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds. Henry added 15 points, while Bouie scored 14 points, with nine rebounds and two blocked shots. West Florida out-rebounded the Blazers 45-43.
As the game went down to the wire, UWF's Ryan Henry hit a big three pointer to close the gap to 59-57 with 4:41 to play. Three minutes later, Kenny Holmes knocked down a jumper to keep the Argos within three points, at 63-60. After two Valdosta State free throws, Bouie scored on a jumper and the score was 65-62, with 20 seconds to play. Valdosta State converted on two more free throws to seal the win. VSU improved to 12-8 on the season, and 4-2 in the conference.
The Argonauts fall to 11-9 on the season, and 1-5 in the conference. Meanwhile, Valdosta State improved to 12-8 on the season, and 4-2 in the conference. West Florida will host West Georgia next Saturday with the Men's game starting at 2:30 pm.
