PENSACOLA, Fla. --- Led by a 32-point effort from senior forward Carlos Bell, the Auburn Montgomery men's basketball team came away with a 73-66 Gulf South Conference victory at the University of West Florida on Thursday, Jan. 23.
 
NOTEWORTHY
- The win marks for the Warhawks' third straight, and improves their record to 9-9 overall, and 4-6 in GSC play. 
- Three different players for AUM have scored at least 29 or more points in the Orange and Black's last three victories.
 
STANDOUT PERFORMERS
- Bell's career-high 32 points came on a career-high 11 field goals made. The Bessemer, Ala. native knocked down eight of 11 free throws, two of three three-pointers and grabbed five rebounds in the win.
- Maharrith Jackson finished one rebound shy of his fifth double-double of the season, with a 17-point, nine-rebound performance. 
- Darrion Taylor accounted for 10 points, while Jeremiah Bozeman hauled in a career-high 10 rebounds and scored eight points.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Both teams scored six points over the game's first four minutes, with AUM knocking down three of their first eight shots from the floor. 
- With leads swapping back-and-fourth over the next few minutes, neither team would be able to lead by more than three points until the Argos took a four-point lead at 23-19 with 8:19 to go in the first.
- The Warhawks would answer with a 6-0 run over the next one minute and 54 seconds of game time later, however, to reclaim the lead after a fast-break layup from Bell. 
- After seeing the Argos tie the score up at 25-all with 5:27 to go, the Warhawks would outscore West Florida 9-4 over the final five minutes of the first to hold a 34-29 lead at the break.  
- The Argos scored five of the first seven points to open up half number two and trim AUM's lead to 36-34 with 17:12 to go. 
- Hanging onto a 41-37 lead with 16:18 left in the game, the Warhawks would rattle off a 14-4 scoring run over the next six minutes to lead by a tally of 55-41 with 10:18 left. 
- West Florida would cut the Warhawks' lead to seven twice over the next five minutes, eventually bringing the score to 58-53 in favor of AUM with 4:20 left. 
- The Warhawks would kick it into high gear over the next three minutes, however, outscoring UWF 10-2 and getting eight of those 10 from Bell to lead 68-55 with 1:31 remaining. 
- The Argos got back to within six points at 70-64 with 41 seconds left, but AUM would go on to hit enough free throws to keep them comfortably ahead and come away with the 73-66 win. 
 
INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
- AUM shot 48 percent (14-29) in half number one, and 45 percent (11-24) in half number two to finish at 47 percent (25-53) from the floor on the night. 
- The Orange and Black knocked down four of eight three-point shots in half number two to post a 41-percent three-point (5-12) efficiency for the game.
- AUM out-rebounded UWF in the game, 37-34.
- The Warhawk defense held the Argos to just 23 percent (4-17) from the three-point line in the game, including a second half where UWF shot just 18 percent (2-11) from downtown. 
- The Warhawks scored 36 points in the paint, and tallied 12 points off of Argo turnovers.
- Thursday's game featured six lead changes and eight tied scores. 
 
UP NEXT
- The Warhawks will be back in action on Saturday, Jan. 25 when they take on #21 Valdosta State in Valdosta, Ga. at 3:00 p.m. (CST)
 
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