CLEVELAND, Tenn. – The West Florida men's basketball team fell 72-70 in overtime to Lee at Walker Arena on Saturday afternoon.
UWF (2-4, 1-2 Gulf South Conference) suffered its second overtime setback of the season and played its third game that came down to the final play of the game. Lee (3-6, 1-3) earned its second overtime victory of the year.
The teams ended regulation tied at 62-62 following
Jelani Pruitt's two free throws with 10.1 seconds remaining.
In overtime,
Jason Laatsch converted on a clutch three-point attempt, which gave the Argos a 69-67 lead with 1:20 remaining. Lee was able to respond as Jevron Johnson tied the game on two free throws with 51 seconds left. UWF
Mario Stramaglia made a free throw attempt of his own with 34.9 tics left, but Lee's CJ Reese swished a runner in the lane 14 seconds later to give the Flames a 71-70 lead.
The Flames were able to preserve their lead with a two of Rantavious Gilbert's seven blocks on field goal attempts by Laatsch and
Austin Somerfield.
Laatsch and Somerfield paced the Argos offense, as the juniors went for 21 and 22 points, respectively. Laatsch shot 8 of 17 on the afternoon, including a career-high five 3-pointers. Somerfield recorded his third double-double of the season as he grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds. Stramaglia added eight points, eight rebounds and five assists against the Flames.
On the afternoon, UWF shot 42.5% from three-point range and made five of their eight triples in the first half.
Lee featured a balanced attack, as the Flames had five different double digit scorers. Reese led the home team with 14 points as the Flames converted 43.1 pct of their field goal attempts. Reese and Gilbert led the Flames with seven boards apiece. Lee held a 38-24 edge in points in the paint
UWF came out of the gates shooting the ball very well, using a 14-5 run en route to a 32-20 lead late in the first half before taking a 37-24 lead into the locker room.
UWF will conclude the road trip on Monday night when it heads to Shorter (4-4, 0-3 GSC) for a doubleheader with the women's program. The women's game will tip off at the Winthrop-King Centre at 6:00 p.m. Eastern time, followed by the men's contest.
