UNF falls to Florida Southern

Tuesday, November 30

Lakeland, Fla.

7:30 PM

University of North Florida

Florida Southern

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

GAME NOTES l BOX SCORE

LAKELAND, Fla. (Nov. 30, 2004) - The University of North Florida men's basketball team kept 18th-ranked Florida Southern on the ropes for 31 minutes Tuesday night.
The final nine minutes weren't nearly as kind.

UNF let an 11-point second-half lead slip away down the stretch, succumbing to tenacious Florida Southern defense and ice-cold shooting, in dropping a 74-59 decision to the Moccasins at Jenkins Field House.

Florida Southern (4-0) outscored the Ospreys 30-4 in the final 11 minutes and held UNF scoreless for the final 9:40 to pull out their 17th win in 19 tries in the series. The loss dropped UNF to 1-6.

Kenny Ebanyat led the way for the Mocs, scoring 20 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Ellery Boykin added 11 points for the Moccasins, who trailed 37-30 at halftime.

Sophomore center James Grimball led the Ospreys with 13 points, including 11 over the final 20 minutes. Riley Didion was the only other UNF player to score in double figures with 10.

"It was a tough loss for our basketball team," UNF head coach Matt Kilcullen said. "We played very well the first 30 minutes but lost our focus a little bit offensively. Give Florida Southern credit, because they took control of the basketball game. They got every loose ball and rebound when it mattered most."

UNF came out blazing in the first half, shooting 46 percent to stretch its lead out to as many as seven points twice, the last time on a David Ashwell layup on the final score of the half.

In the second half, the Ospreys continued with more of the same, stretching their lead out to 39-30 right out of the gates. A Grimball layup with 12:01 to play stretched that advantage to 55-44, the largest of the game for the Ospreys.

From there, everything went south for UNF.

Florida Southern used an 8-0 run over the next three minutes to slice its deficit to 57-55. Things stayed that way until a Dominic Girod layup tied the game with 5:58 to play. An Ebanyat layup a short time later put the Moccasins ahead for good.

The Moccasins shot 50 percent for the game, while UNF shot 42 percent. FSC won the rebounding battle, 35-32.

The Ospreys conclude their five-game road swing with two games at the Valdosta State Tournament on Friday and Saturday. UNF will face Eckerd at 4 p.m. Friday, with Valdosta State and Shaw set to play at 8 p.m. The losers will play in Saturday's consolation game at 4 p.m., with the championship game set for 8 p.m.