University of North Florida
Armstrong Atlantic State
UNF wins fourth straight
2/17/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
SAVANNAH, Ga. - The University of North Florida men's basketball team overcame a brief two-point deficit with five minutes to play and staved off a late run by homestanding Armstrong Atlantic State on Wednesday night to post a 72-68 win over the Pirates in Peach Belt Conference play.
UNF (11-14, 6-5 PBC) won its fourth straight game - and its sixth in the last seven. The victory also gave the Ospreys sole possession of fourth place in the Peach Belt South Division, one game ahead of Armstrong Atlantic (13-9, 5-6).
The Pirates' Lorenzo Lawrence scored 22 of his game-high 30 points in the second half to help Armstrong Atlantic battle back from as much as an 11-point deficit. The Pirates took their first second-half lead at 54-52 with 8:17 to play and led 58-56 following a pair of free throws by Bryan Taylor at the 5:43 mark. From there, UNF took control.
Consecutive steals and layups by UNF's Carl McNally pushed the Ospreys ahead 64-58, and they never looked back. Lawrence sank a 3-pointer and was fouled with 35 seconds to play, cutting the UNF lead to 70-68, but Chris Timberlake hit a running jumper with eight seconds to play on the other end to put the game out of reach.
Derrick Scott led UNF with 18 points, hitting 3-of-6 from 3-point range. Donny Lotz and David Ashwell added 12 points each for the Ospreys.
UNF shot 47 percent for the game, hitting 12-of-13 free throws in the second half. Armstrong Atlantic shot 45 percent for the game and hit 10-of-19 shots from 3-point range.
UNF committed just nine turnovers in snapping a three-game losing skid to the Pirates.
The Ospreys return to action on Saturday at home against defending national champion Kennesaw State at UNF Arena. The UNF women and KSU will tip off at 2 p.m., followed by the men's game at approximately 4 p.m. Both games will be aired locally on WIOJ-AM 1010 and carried on the World Wide Web at www.unf.edu/sports.
