University of North Florida
Shaw
UNF Closes out Tournament with Second Win
2/17/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (Dec. 18, 2004) - The University of North Florida men's basketball team captured its third victory in a row on Saturday, closing out the Primerica/Meyer Maniacs Holiday Classic with a 68-59 win against Shaw University at UNF Arena.
Donny Lotz posted a double-double for the Ospreys (4-7), scoring 15 points to go along with 11 rebounds, while James Grimball led the Ospreys with 17 points. James Rosebud posted a double-double for Shaw (1-8), leading all players with 21 points and 12 rebounds.
The victory was UNF's second against Shaw this season and helped the Ospreys improve to 3-0 at home.
"The kids have been through a lot this semester," UNF head coach Matt Kilcullen said. "It's good to come back to our home court and get a couple of wins."
UNF opened the Primerica/Meyer Maniacs Holiday Classic with a win against St. Paul's on Friday night, while Shaw finished the tournament 0-2, losing its opener to Columbus State.
The Ospreys came out of the gates fast on Saturday and never trailed Shaw. UNF held the Bears off the scoreboard for the first five minutes of play, while opening up an 11-0 lead.
Shaw countered with its own run from there, scoring nine of the next 11 points. A Rosebud dunk cut the UNF lead to 13-9 before UNF's Anthony Earl halted the run with a baseline jumper.
Michael Lee helped UNF close out the opening half on a 19-10 run with a driving lay up that fell in the basket as time expired. The Ospreys led 42-21 at the break.
"We were really ready to play and it showed in how we came out and started the game," Kilcullen said.
The Bears began the second half with a 10-2 run to cut the UNF advantage to 13. UNF, however, countered with a 10-5 run, taking a 54-36 advantage on a Lotz lay up.
The two teams traded scores from there before Shaw went on a small run to close play.
Carl McNally was the third Osprey to score in double figures, finishing the contest with 11 points to go along with six rebounds. UNF won the battle of the boards, outrebounding Shaw 41-34.
The Ospreys will take a little time off for the Christmas holiday before returning to the court on Dec. 29 to take on Virginia Union in the Columbus State Classic at noon.
