PENSACOLA, Fla. – West Florida totaled 45 rebounds to West Alabama’s 27 to defeat the Tigers 76-64 on Thursday.

“We just didn’t play well tonight,” said UWA head coach Mike Newell. “Offensive rebounds are what hurt us the most and we haven’t hardly been beat out in the boards this season. West Florida has a very good basketball team and they shot it very well.”

The loss drops West Alabama to 4-9 in the Gulf South Conference; 8-12 overall. West Florida now improves to 6-8 in the conference; 11-11 overall.

Steven Samuels led the Tigers in scoring for the third time in four matches with 24 points. Sophomore Aaron Cobb hit his season scoring high with 11 points.

West Florida’s Nate Johnson and Ellis Young both finished with double-doubles. Johnson totaled 20 points and 10 rebounds while Young tallied 17 points and 14 boards.

The Argonauts jumped to a 14 point lead in the first 10 minutes of action. The Tigers responded with a 14-0 point run to tie the game at 22-22 with five minutes left in the half. UWF recovered with a 33-24 lead heading into halftime.

UWF came back to control the entirety of the second half. The Argos extended their lead to 18 points with 6:24 remaining and maintained the lead to finish with a 76-64 victory.

The Tigers will remain on the road to take on Valdosta State on Saturday. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.