Victory So Close: UWF Men's Hoops Edge Closer to Title; Swimmer Dominates Meet!
UWF men's basketball came up short against West Alabama in its first NCAA tournament appearance since 2018.
On March 8, UWF men's basketball won at West Alabama to win the Gulf South Conference tournament championship and clinch a spot in the NCAA Division II Tournament for the first time since 2018 . Six days later, No. 3 seed West Alabama ended the No.
6 seed Argos season, besting UWF 58-53 in the South Regional quarterfinals at Nova Southeastern in Davie. West Alabama (27-5) and UWF (25-9) split the four matchups between the two teams this season, though the Tigers won the one that mattered most. They'll play No.
7 seed University of Alabama-Huntsville in the South Regional Semifinals on March 15. UWF's Colby McAlister scored a team-high 12 points off the bench, while West Alabama's Jakobe Singleton poured in a game-high 18 points off the bench. The game featured 12 lead changes and was tied 29-29 at halftime before West Alabama pulled away in the second half.
Ryan Payne's fast break layup put the Argos ahead 35-33 with 15:41 left in the second half, and Sano Ratutaika hit a jumper with 14:05 remaining to double the lead. That was UWF's biggest lead in the second half. Singleton put the Tigers in front for good on a jumper with 10:22 remaining as part of a 19-4 run that extended West Alabama's lead to 56-43 with 58 seconds left.