University of North Florida
MERCER
Mercer withstands UNF rally
1/4/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 4, 2006
MACON, Ga. - UNF head coach Matt Kilcullen went with a youth movement on Wednesday afternoon against Atlantic Sun Conference foe Mercer - and it nearly worked.
With Aaron Caruthers making his first career start and Ryan Daugherty in the game for large stretches in the second half, the freshman duo helped the Ospreys slice a 15-point deficit to just four points with less than two minutes remaining in a 77-71 loss to the Bears at the University Center.
Mercer's Jacob Skogen scored 24 points to lead the way, hitting 9-of-11 shots and 3-of-5 shots from 3- point range. The Ospreys (3-8, 0-4 A-Sun) hit just 2- of-22 shots from 3-point range, however, and played again without leading scorer Alain Laroche in losing their sixth straight.
"I was really proud of the way we battled for 40 minutes," UNF head coach Matt Kilcullen said. "One spurt hurt us at the end of the first half. We still had a chance with a minute to go to make it a one possession game. These kids are battlers, and sooner or later good things will happen for them."
The Bears (3-7, 2-2 A-Sun) shot 54 percent for the game and outrebounded the Ospreys 41-38 in winning their fourth straight game at home. UNF shot 37 percent but got 21 offensive rebounds to create numerous second opportunities and help them stay close.
Caruthers finished with a team-high 17 points for UNF in replacing senior Derrick Scott in the lineup, while Daugherty had 10 points - including eight in the second half. Daugherty's 3-pointer with 1:15 remaining sliced UNF's deficit to just 73-69. The Ospreys forced a steal on the ensuing inbounds play, and a Caruthers 3-pointer rimmed out with less than a minute to play that would have cut the deficit to one.
The Ospreys trailed by as many as 15 points in the second half, the last at 56-41 with 14:17 left. UNF trailed 40-31 at halftime.
The teams battled back and forth in the first half before an 11-2 Mercer run forged the Bears ahead for good just before halftime. Carl McNally's free throw tied the game with 2:22 to play before the break, and Mercer put together a 9-0 run from there and got another basket from Sam Dolan in the waning seconds to stretch out to a sizable lead.
The Bears continued with more of the same in the second half, getting strong performances from Will Emerson and Dolan - who both finished with 12 points.
Chris Timberlake added 11 points for UNF - all in the final 10 minutes.
After a six-game road trip, the Ospreys will return to UNF Arena for their first home game since Dec. 12 when they face Belmont at 4 p.m. as part of a men's- women's doubleheader. The game will be aired live on WIOJ-AM 1010 and via the World Wide Web at www.UNFOspreys.com.
