PENSACOLA, Fla. – Senior forward Lafayette James-Core scored a game-high 24 points as the Auburn Montgomery men's basketball team earned their third victory this season against a nationally ranked opponent, defeating #13 West Florida 73-70 on Sunday afternoon in Gulf South Conference action.
 
NOTES
• AUM improves to 8-10 on the season with a 3-8 mark in league play.
• UWF falls to 17-2 overall and 9-2 in the GSC.
• The game was originally slated for Saturday afternoon, but was moved to Sunday due to inclement weather.
• The Argonauts were undefeated at home before today's game, and are now 10-1 for the season.
• AUM held the Argos to their second lowest scoring output this season.
• The Warhawks are now 5-5 lifetime against UWF, and also 3-1 against Top-25 teams this season.
 
STANDOUT PERFORMERS
• James-Core tallied 24 points on 8-12 shooting going 4-5 from behind the 3-point line and notching three steals.
• Junior guard Desmond DeRamus keeps moving closer to the 1,000-point plateau for his career, notching 13 points in tonight's contest. The Montgomery, Ala., native now sits at 955 points over his three seasons at AUM. DeRamus also led the team in assists with seven in the contest.
• Senior guard Reagan Eubanks tallied 13 points, four assists and two steals for AUM.
• UWF's Marvin Jones recorded a team-high 17 points and five assists.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED 
• The two teams traded buckets back and forth to start the contest before UWF took a 12-11 lead with 14:11 to go in the first. Then, a James-Core 3-pointer ignited a 12-2 run over the next four minutes to go up 24-14 with 10:09 to go in the opening frame.
• AUM followed that up with a 17-4 run over the next five minutes, going up 41-18 on a James-Core fastbreak layup.
• The Argonauts would hold the Warhawks scoreless over the final 4:09 of the half to trail 41-25 at the break.
• UWF would chip away at the AUM lead over the first eight minutes of the second half, cutting the lead to single digits at 52-44 on a Henri Ventoniemi jumper in the paint.
• AUM would respond and build its lead back up to 13 with 9:01 to go in the game, capped off by a DeRamus Jumper that put the Warhawks up 61-48.
• The Argos chipped away at the AUM lead over the next seven minutes, pulling to within 66-64 on a Jones' trey with 2:15 to play.
• James-Core would respond with a 3-pointer of his own to put AUM up 69-64 with 1:58 on the clock.
• Leading 73-70 with :05 seconds to go, sophomore guard Darrion Taylor stripped UWF's Darryl Tucker of the ball to prevent a last second attempt and secure the AUM victory.

QUOTING THE COACH
"I'm proud of our guys for keeping their composure for forty minutes," said AUM head coach Michael Cheaney. "One thing we've been preaching all year is being on the same page as a team, and I felt tonight everybody did their job. We were hitting on all cylinders in the first half but we knew that they (UWF) would be coming out firing in the second half. I was impressed with our defensive stops and rebounds, those are things we've lacked over the past couple of games. Our team leaders stepped up tonight, and our bench gave us a lot of energy and support to the guys on the floor. Overall it was a great team win, everybody contributed."

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE 
• UWF outrebounded AUM 36-27.
• The Argos outscored the Warhawks 40-28 in the paint.
• AUM outscored UWF 10-2 in fastbreak points.
 
UP NEXT
The Warhawks will host GSC rival the University of Montevallo on Thursday evening at the AUM Gymnasium. Opening tip is set for 8 p.m. on the campus of the Warhawks.
 
For the latest on AUM athletics, find us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.