  The energy spectra of alpha particles have been measured in coincidence with
the evaporation residues for the decay of the compound nucleus $^31$P produced
in the reaction $^19$F (96 MeV) + $^12$C. The data have been compared with the
predictions of the statistical model code CASCADE. It has been observed that
significant deformation effect in the compound nucleus need to be considered in
order to explain the shape of the evaporated alpha particle energy spectra.
