March 1, 2008
PENSACOLA, Fla. - The West Florida Men's Basketball team finished the 2007-2008 regular season, with a 65-42 loss at Valdosta State on Saturday, despite holding the Blazers to below 35% shooting. The Argos have been one of the top teams in the nation defensively this season, and have led the Gulf South Conference nearly the entire year in field goal percentage defense. However, they couldn't get it going offensively, as both teams struggled from the floor during the game as the Blazers (17-10, 8-4) shot 32.8 percent (22-of-67) while the Argonauts (13-14, 3-9) managed just 25.0 percent (15-of-60) shooting from the floor.
Valdosta State never trailed as it scored 16 of the first 19 points of the contest. Valdosta State scored on a fast break lay-up after a steal to open the scoring, and then hit one-of-two free throw attempts, to go up 3-0. UWF forced the only tie with a three-point play from Kenny Holmes, but VSU's Ricky Coleman proceeded to hit a three to put Valdosta State back in front. The Blazers scored the next 10 points to take a 16-3 advantage with 13:05 remaining in the first half.
West Florida closed to within 21-12 over the next six minutes, but was held scoreless until Max Hoggard hit a lay-up and added a free throw with less than a free throw remaining in the half. The Argonauts missed 11 shots during the scoreless span, but Valdosta State managed to connect on just three-of-15 field goal attempts during the same time frame. The Blazers owned a 32-15 lead after the first 20 minutes of play, during which VSU connected on 10-of-36 field goal attempts (27.8 percent) while UWF scored on just six-of-32 shots (18.8 percent).
Clay Sidner and Max Hoggard tallied nine points each off the bench to lead the Argonauts. Ricky Coleman scored 22 points to lead Valdosta State, and he was the only player in the game with double digit points. Kenny Holmes led the Argonauts with nine rebounds; however, the Argonauts were out-rebounded by VSU by a 62-38 margin. Meanwhile, Charles Bouie recorded one block and finished the season with a GSC leading 93 blocks on the year, which established a UWF single season mark, 31 more than the previous record.
Rod Doss chipped in with four points and five rebounds, while Josh Jackson and Ryan Henry each added four points. The Argonauts had been a solid three point shooting team for most of the season, but finished tonight only 3 of 32 from three point distance. Clay Sidner connected on two for UWF, while Deondre Boynton scored the other.
