Dec. 30, 2007
PENSACOLA, Fla. - The West Florida Men's Basketball team has been demonstrating great defense this year, holding opponents to a low 36.6 percent shooting from the field. While they held the Broncos to only 39 percent shooting, they couldn't overcome 14 made three pointers by Fayetteville State. The Argos had a lead of 45-41 midway thru the second half, but the Broncos connected on consecutive three pointers to take the lead at 49-48 and never gave it up. The loss ended a five game win streak for West Florida, who dropped to 7-4 on the season.
Charles Bouie led the way with 15 points for the Argonauts, with seven of his points coming from the free throw line. Rod Doss connected on four three point shots and contributed 14 points. Ryan Henry and Deondre Boynton each added 13 points. Andy Gebru and Phillippe Harris combined for 11 three pointers and 51 points to lead the Broncos, who improved to 4-5 on the season.
Head Coach Don Hogan felt the hot shooting by the Broncos was the key. "Their second half shooting (57%) was the story of the game. We didn't think they could shoot that good of a percentage, since we were keying on their top shooters, but their three pointers beat us. Offensively, we had a good balance in scoring with four players in double figures."
The two teams battled back and forth in the early going of the first half, as each team's largest lead was only three points thru the first ten minutes of the game. Following four lead changes, the momentum shifted over to the Argonauts, as they took their largest lead of the first half, a four point margin, with nine minutes left to play in the half. However, the Broncos would charge back over the next six minutes taking a five point lead, the biggest lead of the first half. Over the final minutes of the half, West Florida fought their way back in the game with big baskets from Rod Doss. Then, the teams went in the break tied at 31. For the first half, West Florida shot 43 percent for the field, while Fayetteville State hit an impressive seven shots from beyond the arch.
In the second half, the two teams remained close on the score board. Over the first five minutes of the second half the Broncos would climb out to a three point lead before the Argonauts would strike back over the next two minutes to take a four point lead of their own. Once again Fayetteville State battled back to retake the lead and extend their advantage to four points with nine minutes left to play. Just one minute later two impressive back-to-back plays by Deondre Boynton cut the West Florida deficit to 56-55. During the next six minutes the Argonauts were only able to score from the free throw line, as Fayetteville State out scored West Florida 12-4 to take a largest lead of the game at 68-59.
Ryan Henry would hit two three pointers and Kenny Holmes converted a jumper to pull the Argos within three points at 72-69. However, Gebru and Harris each converted two free throws to seal the win for the Broncos. The Argonauts were out-rebounded for only the fourth time this season, despite a game high 13 rebounds from the GSC rebounding leader Kenny Holmes. Meanwhile, the conference leader in assists, Deondre Boynton, put together a nice stat line with 13 points, 7 rebounds, and 8 assists.
West Florida plays next at home on January 2nd, vs. Rochester College at 2:00 pm. This will be the third home game in a stretch of six straight home games. Coach Hogan feels that Rochester will be another tough test for the Argonauts. "they are very good, and have already played a bunch of D-I opponents this season, so we will have to play well defensively. But, it's good to be at home for this six game homestand, and we need to take advantage of it.
