Shorthanded Ospreys drop game at Winston-Salem State

Saturday, November 27

Winston Salem, N.C.

2:00 PM

University of North Florida

WINSTON-SALEM STATE

2/17/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball

GAME NOTES l BOX SCORE

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (Nov. 27, 2004) - Playing from behind is hard enough. Playing shorthanded can be impossible.

The University of North Florida men's basketball team did both on Saturday afternoon against Winston-Salem State, battling from behind all day in a 69-66 loss to the Rams (4-1) at the C.E. Gaines Center. The Ospreys (1-5) never led but rallied to tie the game once and slice their deficit to a point four times in the second half.

Senior forward Donny Lotz suffered a sprained ankle with 10 minutes to play and didn't return. That was compounded by starters Derrick Scott and Riley Didion fouling out down the stretch, leaving UNF without three key scorers for its final run - with predictable results. UNF had a chance to tie the game in the waning seconds after a missed free throw by the Rams' Alleggrie Guinn, but Chris Timberlake's 3-point attempt failed to connect as time expired, sending UNF to its seventh consecutive road loss.

Guinn led Winston-Salem State with 24 points.

"We gave ourselves a chance to win but didn't make the key plays when we needed to," UNF head coach Matt Kilcullen said. "We just are not mentally tough enough right now to battle back from adversity. We turned the ball over too many times, and you can't do that when you play good competition."

Anthony Earl Jr. scored 17 points and Timberlake added 12 to lead UNF, which shot 47 percent. The Ospreys also outrebounded the Rams, 35-21, but committed 26 turnovers, which led to 21 Winston-Salem State points.

Winston-Salem State shot 55 percent for the game, including a 67 percent stretch in the second half. Rashad McGee added 13 points and Roy Peake 10 for WSSU.

The Rams came out firing early, jumping out to a 12-4 lead in the first five minutes. UNF trailed 31-21 with 3:38 to play before intermission, but three points by Tom Abernathy led a late UNF charge to cut into the deficit. The Rams led 31-26 at the break.

In the second half, after exchanging baskets early, both teams went cold. UNF was held without a basket for more than five minutes, while Winston-Salem State failed to convert a field goal for more than seven minutes. The Rams came up big when they needed to, however, stretching their lead out to seven points twice in the final 10 minutes, the last time with 1:11 to go.

A 3-pointer by Earl cut the deficit to 68-66 with eight seconds to play to set up the frenetic finish.

UNF returns to action on Tuesday at Florida Southern. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. in Lakeland. The game will be aired on WIOJ-AM 1010 and can be heard on the internet at www.unf.edu/sports.