University of North Florida
Florida Atlantic
Ospreys fall to FAU, 59-44
11/22/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 22, 2006
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The University of North Florida men's basketball team battled back from a 10-point halftime deficit to pull within a point of Florida Atlantic in the second half on Wednesday night, but the Ospreys faltered down the stretch in losing 59-44 at UNF Arena.
Rashad Williams scored 12 points to lead UNF (1-4), which had a 10-game non-conference home winning streak snapped in the loss. The Ospreys shot just 35 percent for the game - including a 28 percent clip in the first half - and committed 20 turnovers in dropping to 0-3 all time against FAU (1-4).
Florida Atlantic guard Paul Graham scored 17 points and Carlos Monroe added 16 to lead the Owls.
"Our team just didn't come out with enough passion and energy to play the game," UNF head coach Matt Kilcullen said. "We didn't take good shots at times, and we made some poor decisions offensively. In the second half, we came out with a purpose, and that got us back into the game. We just didn't maintain our composure after that."
UNF started cold and fell behind early, trailing by as many as 12 points in the first half before cutting that deficit to 28-18 at the intermission.
In the second half, the Ospreys got six points from Williams in a 10-1 run that pulled them within 33-32 with 13:30 remaining. The Owls answered with a 9-0 run over the next two minutes - which included a technical foul called on Williams that resulted in a five-point possession for FAU, putting UNF in a hole from which it couldn't recover.
The Owls - who led by as many as 19 points in the second half - shot 45 percent for the game and outrebounded UNF 33-30. Graham also added six assists for FAU, which gave first-year head coach Rex Walters his first career victory.
Germaine Sparkes added nine points and eight rebounds for UNF.
The Ospreys return to action on Saturday when they travel to Evanston, Ill., to face Northwestern in the program's first game against a Big Ten opponent. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. Eastern Time. The game will be aired in Jacksonville on WIOJ- AM 1010 and via the World Wide Web at www.UNFOspreys.com.
