University of North Florida
St. Paul's College
Ospreys shake off rust with 69-43 victory over Saint Paul's
2/17/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
GAME NOTES l BOX SCORE
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (Dec. 17, 2004) -
After 13 days off, the University of North Florida men's basketball team returned to the floor with predictable results on Friday night in the opening round of the Primerica/Meyer Maniacs Holiday Classic - sloppy, sluggish and lacking spark. At least for the first 20 minutes.After a lackluster first half, the Ospreys turned up the heat over the final 20 minutes against outmatched Saint Paul's, pulling away for a 69-43 win and a near record-setting finish. The 43 scored by the Tigers (0-7) were the second fewest allowed in school history and the least scored by a UNF opponent since Florida Tech mustered only 40 in 1996.
James Grimball tied a season high with 24 points, and Chris Timberlake added 12, to give UNF back-to-back wins for the first time this season. The Ospreys (3-7) shot 55 percent for the game (28-of-51) and held the Tigers to just 32 percent.
"We showed some rust early," UNF head coach Matt Kilcullen said. "There were a lot of areas where we were a little off. Our defense kept us in it, though. In the second half we played much more aggressively and our big men played much better."
UNF outrebounded the Tigers 36-34 and also forced 23 turnovers, which led to 26 points. Saint Paul's had no answer for the UNF pressure and struggled mightily all night against UNF's more sizable front line.
Despite those advantages, the Ospreys led only 27- 23 at halftime and held just a 27-26 lead early in the second half. A 21-2 run put the game away at that point, however, sparked by the inside play of Grimball and senior Donny Lotz, who returned to the floor for the first time in nearly a month after suffering a sprained ankle against Winston-Salem State on Nov. 27.
Grimball hit 10 of 15 field goal attempts.
UNF will play Shaw, a team it defeated 66-58 on Dec. 4, in a rematch on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. Columbus State plays Saint Paul's in the tournament's other game at noon.
Saturday's game will be broadcast locally on WIOJ- AM 1010 and can also be heard on the internet at www.unf.edu/sports.
