MONTEVALLO, Ala. - The University of Montevallo men's basketball team returned to action for only the second time this season, after suffering multiple postponed and rescheduled games due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  After being down 15 points, the Falcon's picked up a solid 80-77 victory over the UWF Argo's, on Tuesday night in Trustmark Arena.  

In their first game in seven weeks, the Falcon's were a little flat at the start of the first half.  UWF kicked off the game with a 7-0 run in the first two minutes of gameplay, but UM responded with their own small run to make the score 17-13.  UWF kept it interesting throughout the half as they battled with Montevallo to maintain the lead.  The Falcon's three point shooting struggled in the during the period, leading to a chance for the Argo's to command a 43-37 lead going into half time.  

West Florida exploded at the beginning of the second half with a 11-2 run, making the score 54-39.  The Falcon's made a few adjustments to combat UWF's stretch, bringing in Ivan Smith for Latrell Carter to set up small ball.  Smith's presence allowed for mismatches on offense that UM would take advantage of to help them recover from the Argo run.  Montevallo's defensive adjustment to a zone also played a key role in the second half. 

West Florida struggled to adjust to the Falcon zone defense, as they committed turnover after turnover.  The momentum began to shift in UM's favor after a pair of back to back three's from James McNeil gave the Falcon's its first lead since the 9:25 mark in the first half.  Montevallo fought with everything they had to maintain the edge over UWF, until a made pair of free throws from Travarus Carroll ultimately secured the 80-77 victory for the Falcons.

"I think the turning point for us was when we went small, we wanted to be able to create a lot of havoc, get up and down the floor, and find some easy shots.  We started rebounding once we went into the zone, and that kind of changed the momentum for us," said head coach Danny Young.  

NEXT UP: Montevallo will be headed to Montgomery to take on the AUM Warhawks on Friday, January 29th at 6:00 PM.