ROME, Ga. – At a time when they needed to make sure they didn't lose their place at the top of the conference standings, the Shorter Hawks came up with perhaps their best outing of the season Saturday when they dismantled the visiting West Florida Argo to cruise to a 110-78 Gulf South Conference victory.

The win – it was the most points Shorter has scored in a game this season – ensured the Hawks at least a share of the GSC top spot, improving their conference record to 11-4 and their overall mark to 16-5.

Leading the Hawks to their fifth straight win, the most consecutive victories this season, was senior Dedric Ware, who set the tone for the game pouring in 23 first half points and ending the afternoon leading all scorers with 30 as the Hawks led from start to finish.

Shorter quickly took control of the game from the opening tip and took their biggest lead of the first half, 51-31, with just over a minute to play before halftime in which the Hawks held a 51-31 advantage into the locker room.

When the final 20 minutes of play began, Shorter kept the offensive machine in gear and after head coach Chad Warner cleared the bench at the halfway point the Hawks reserves kept the pressure on and with 7:29 left to play, Brock Rowan connected from beyond the three-point arc to give the Hawks' their biggest lead of the game, 101-53.

Rowan wound up providing his team with 17 points – all in the second half – by hitting six of eight shots, including going five of seven from three-point land.

His accuracy from the floor reflected on the kind of game the Hawks had shooting the ball as Shorter was on target on 63 percent of their shots from the floor and 57 percent on their three-point attempts. Both were season highs.

Also putting up double-figure numbers in the game for Shorter were Tyler Alderman and Kordario Fleming, who had 11 and 10 points, respectively.

Jordan Jacks added nine points and pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds for the Hawks, while Travis Jones recorded nine assists.

Deangelo Legrier paced West Florida (6-15, 2-13) with 19 points, Justin Williams added 13, Tyler Funk had 12 and Kent Langham finished with 11.

The Hawks will now turn their attention to what will be their longest series of road games on the season.

Next week, Shorter heads across the state line into Alabama where they will visit North Alabama on Feb. 5 and make a stop in Huntsville on Feb. 7 taking on Alabama-Huntsville.

The team then has road trips to West Georgian (Feb. 12) and West Alabama (Feb. 14) before returning home for the Hawks' final two games at WKC against Delta State on Feb. 19 and Mississippi College on Feb. 21, and close out the regular season visiting Lee.