University of North Florida
Edward Waters
UNF battles past city rival Edward Waters, 91-78, in home opener
2/17/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
BOX SCORE
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (Nov. 20, 2004) - University of North Florida men's basketball coach Matt Kilcullen had no doubt that his team would get the best Edward Waters had to offer on Saturday afternoon at UNF Arena.
City rivalries tend to be that way.
The battle between Jacksonville's two small-school rivals was tight early before strong play by UNF's guard trio of Chris Timberlake, Riley Didion and Derrick Scott took control and allowed the Ospreys to pull away down the stretch for a 91-78 victory.
Scott scored 16 of his 18 points in the second half, Timberlake added 19 points and Didion scored six points and tallied six assists to give UNF (1-3) its third straight win over Edward Waters and its 10th win in 13 games against the Tigers (2-6). James Grimball scored 24 points for UNF to lead all scorers.
"The old cliché holds true that you can throw out the records when rivals get together," UNF head coach Matt Kilcullen said. "That was certainly the case tonight. This was in many ways a must-win game for our team. We needed to get a win under our belt, and it was good to get a win at home. I give a lot of credit to Edward Waters. They did a good job of attacking the boards on the offensive end and keeping themselves in the game."
The Ospreys didn't miss often, shooting 62 percent for the game (26-of-42), but the Tigers kept things close by dominating the glass. Edward Waters outrebounded UNF 40-27 and tallied 21 offensive rebounds, which led to 14 second-chance points. The Tigers shot 41 percent for the game (9-of-26), but 20 turnovers eventually proved to be their undoing.
Jaevas McClendon led Edward Waters with 18 points, while Carl Williams added 14.
The teams battled back and forth early, forging four ties and swapping leads three times. An 8-1 run over the final two minutes of the first half pushed UNF ahead for good, however, and gave the Ospreys a 37-32 lead at the intermission.
In the second half, a 10-0 run by UNF turned a 49-46 game into a 59-46 lead with 12:39 to play, and Edward Waters could never battle back. UNF's biggest lead was 17 points (77-60) en route to the 13-point win.
UNF capitalized on its opportunities at the free-throw line, hitting 34 of 43 attempts, including 26 of 33 in the second half. Edward Waters hit 11 of 16 free throws.
"I was proud of our effort in the second half especially," Kilcullen said. "We had good shot selection, showed great patience and took care of the basketball. James Grimball, Riley Didion and Chris Timberlake took over the game and played very well when we needed them the most."
The Ospreys will return to action on Tuesday when they face Jacksonville University for the first time in a regular-season game. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. at Jacksonville's Swisher Gymnasium. The game will be aired locally on WIOJ-AM 1010 and can also be heard via the UNF website at www.unf.edu/sports.
