Box Score PENSACOLA, Fla. – The Spring Hill College (SHC) men's basketball team continued to struggle in the early stages of the 2016-17 season as the Badgers fell 74-56 to the University of West Florida (UWF) Argonauts on Tuesday night in a non-conference tilt at the UWF Field House.
 
The Argonauts (4-0) and the Badgers battled hammer-and-tong from the opening tip off as the home team edged out to a 13-9 lead after seven minutes of play with Jason Laatsch of UWF knocking down three consecutive free throws. West Florida maintained their 4-point cushion at 9:12 and 7:22 with the scores of 23-19 and 25-21.
 
It was still a 4-point game at 3:49 before halftime as the two teams traded baskets to reach a 29-25 tally, but then two different Argos made three free throws within a second on the clock at 3:14 and 3:13 to increase their advantage to 32-25. Jack Morrissey rattled home a 3-pointer for SHC just before the break, but by the halftime intermission SHC found itself in a 37-28 hole.
 
West Florida's lead grew to 45-28 in the first 2½ minutes of the second period, but two fast break buckets brought the Badgers back to a 10-point differential at 48-38 with 14:45 on the clock. UWF responded by stretching the lead back out to 66-46 with four minutes remaining.
 
Brandon Fischer hit the high-water mark for the Badgers with 10 points as Spring Hill shot 42.9% (24-56) overall and 30.8% (4-13) from 3-point distance while out-rebounding the Argos 37 to 31 under the boards. SHC gave away 19 turnovers in the face of just five three steals by UWF while benefiting from 11 Argo turnovers against four Badger steals.
 
UWF was paced by Laatsch with 17 points as Austin Somerfield pitched in 15, Deangelo Legrier put 10 points in the hoops, and Darryl Tucker scored 11 bench coming off the bench. The Argos shot 44.4% (24-54) from the field including 30% (6-20) from beyond the arc.
 
The Badgers (0-6) will travel to Clinton, Miss., on Saturday at 4 p.m. when they face the Choctaws of Mississippi College in a non-conference game at A.E. Wood Coliseum.