Box Score PENSACOLA, Fla. – The Spring Hill College (SHC) men's basketball team fought hard but took an 84-63 non-conference loss to the University of West Florida (UWF) Argonauts on Tuesday night at the UWF Field House.

The Argonauts (4-0) and the Badgers both started slow on offense as neither team scored during the first three minutes of play, but SHC finally broke in front first with a 10-4 lead at 13:30. UWF answered back with 3-point buckets on consecutive trips down the floor to tie the game at 11-11 with nine minutes gone in the half.

Spring Hill then got stuck on 11 points as UWF built out a 20-11 cushion until junior guard DeVaughn Hardrick answered with a driving layup to cut the score down to 20-13 with eight minutes until intermission.

By halftime, UWF held a 35-22 advantage as Spring Hill was shooting just 29.6% (8-27) from the floor and UWF was draining 53.8% (14-26) of their shots including six 3-pointers.

The Badgers came out fighting in the 2nd half and cut the deficit down to 41-33 by the media timeout at 15:34 only to see the Argos recapture a 53-38 lead at the 11 minute mark and a 65-45 bulge with five minutes remaining.

In the end, SHC shot 38.2% (26-68) including 40% (6-15) from 3-point range, but just 45.5% (5-11) from the free throw line. UWF, on the other hand, scored the nets at 61.5% (32-52) from the field and 55% (11-20) from 3-point land.  UWF squeaked out a 35-33 advantage under the boards, but suffered 17 turnovers to 13 for the Badgers.

Erin Straughn of UWF came off the bench to lead all scorers with 29 points while senior guard Robert Drummond of SHC connected for 17 points and Badger teammate freshman guard Walter Massey added 11 points.

The loss was the second to UWF in four days as the Badgers also took a 78-66 home loss to the Argos on Saturday.

Spring Hill (0-6) will next play an exhibition game with the University of South Alabama Jaguars (1-2) at the USA Mitchell Center on Tuesday at 7:05 p.m.