HAVRE, Mont. - The first half wasn't pretty for Argo basketball, but a redoubled defensive effort and better shooting in the second half spurred a needed comeback to win 87-77 against New Hope Christian College.
 
From nine minutes into the first half to the 9:31 mark in the second, UGF trailed the Deacons, and New Hope's lead was as large as 11. A made 3-pointer from senior forward Issac Howard at 9:31 gave the Argos a 61-60 lead. Howard would hit two more in the next few minutes to help UGF gain control of the game. 
 
Junior guard Sergio Berkley was another major factor in the second half comeback. While team's leading scorer on the season was cold from long range, his ability to drive to basket and either finish or draw a foul was the team's most consistent source of offense down the stretch.
 
New Hope's play against UGF's press defined both halves. In the first, the Argo pressure was high risk, high reward. While the Deacon's turned the ball over 13 times, in large part due to the press, New Hope just as often broke the press to find easy baskets.
 
Sometimes those easy baskets were layups, but more often UGF could scramble to avoid allowing a layup only to lose track of an open shooter. The Deacons took advantage of those open looks, hitting 61.5 percent from behind the 3-point arc with 8 makes and just 5 misses.
 
Dealing with UGF's pressure all game long, finally seemed to get to the Deacons about half way through the second half. The Argos didn't force as many turnovers, just 5 New Hopes 18 came in the final 20 minutes of play, but a steadier and more intense defensive effort led few open shots. The Deacons shot just 28.5 percent from three in the final 20 minutes, while Howard and the Argos made 53 percent of their shots in the period. 
 
Berkley finished with a team high 20 points, 16 of which came in the second half. The junior, who ranks 4th in the NAIA in Assist/Turnover Ration (7.5) also continued to be judicious with the ball, only committing 1 turnover despite significant time handling the ball.
 
Right behind Berkley in scoring was Howard who set a personal season high with 19 points off 7-10 shooting including 5 from long range to go along with 6 rebounds.
 
Two other guards had big impacts on the game for UGF. Redshirt-junior Matthew Brooks-McGregor had a bad shooting night, going 0-3 from three after heading into the game ranked 29th in the NAIA in 3-pt. percentage (52 percent), but that didn't stop him from scoring 12 points. Many of those came on the break after a few of his career high 5 steals.
 
The other was sophomore Jarred Burr. The point guard's stats weren't overly impressive, though he did lead the team in assists, but his 7 points and 3 assists came in big moments, including the assist on Howards go-ahead three.
 
UGF's record improved to 6-1 with the win. The Argo's next contest will be the first of Frontier Conference play, with a road trip to Lewis-Clark State College on December 1 at 7:30 p.m.