Box Score NASHVILLE – For the second time in two weeks, the Trevecca Nazarene University men's basketball team took the floor on a Saturday afternoon after a big win on a Thursday night. Unfortunately for the Trojans, a sluggish first half prevented them from earning the victory on Saturday.

Trevecca (7-4, 3-3 GSC) rallied furiously in the second half, but the Trojans comeback came up just short as the University of West Florida Argonauts (10-3, 3-2 GSC) held on to take the win, 82-78 in the Trojan Fieldhouse.

HOW IT HAPPENED
West Florida roared out of the gates, as the Argonauts built a 17-3 advantage by hitting six of their first seven shots. With 8:37 to go in the opening frame, the Trojans got a layup from Spencer White to cut the deficit to 10 at 27-17, but UFW responded by scoring six of the next eight points to push their lead back to 14, and at the break, the Trojans trailed by 12, 41-29.

UWF scored first out of the intermission, but Trevecca answered with an 8-0 run that was punctuated by a dunk from Brett Wright, and suddenly, Trevecca was within six at 43-37 with 16:34 left in the contest. The Argonauts quickly pushed their lead back into double figures, and with 8:58 left on the clock, UWF had stretched their lead all the way out to 19 points at 66-47.

That's when Trevecca put on the pressure. The Trojans got a 3-point field goal from White with 8:50 to play, and over the next 2:38 of game time, the Trojans forced four UWF turnovers and only allowed the Argonauts to attempt a single shot - which they missed - as TNU ripped off a 13-0 run to again trim the deficit to six. UWF inched the gap back out to 10 at 74-64 with 4:05 to go, but another TNU run - this one an 8-0 spurt - pulled Trevecca within two at 74-72 with 1:58 to go in the game. That proved to be as close as Trevecca was able to get, however, as the Trojans were unable to draw even, and a pair of free throws for UWF with 2.8 seconds left sealed the game in an 82-78 UWF victory.
 
THE TEAM 
Trevecca made nearly half of their second half shots, and that brought the Trojans up to nearly 43% (29-68) shooting for the game. Beyond the arc, Trevecca was 7-for-32 (21.9%), and at the free throw line, the Trojans cashed in 13 of 21 (61.9%) attempts. Trevecca was out-rebounded 45-34, but Trevecca out-scored UWF off the bench (31-16) and the Trojans created 11 steals and converted them into 21 points off turnovers. 
 
THE PLAYERS
Freshman Jax Abernathy broke the 20-point barrier for the fourth time in the last six games - all in GSC play - as he tied for the game-high with 22 points. Abernathy was 8-for-17 from the floor, he grabbed five rebounds, and he chipped in three assists and two steals as well. Justin Bass joined him in double figures with 19 points, Spencer White led the way with eight rebounds, and Fred Bailey led Trevecca with four assists. Tyler Moore has three steals to lead the Trojans.


UP NEXT
Trevecca will wrap up the 2025 portion of their schedule when they welcome old foe Cumberland University (8-5) to the Trojan Fieldhouse. The Trojans and the Phoenix will tip-off with a New Years Eve matinee at 2 p.m.