University of North Florida
Florida A&M
UNF falls short against FAMU
12/20/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 20, 2006
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The University of North Florida men's basketball team played shorthanded on Wednesday night against in- state Florida A&M, but that didn't keep the Ospreys from battling to the end.
Leslie Robinson scored 21 points for FAMU to lead all scorers, but the Rattlers were forced to survive a furious UNF rally in the final three minutes to post a 66-65 win over the Ospreys at UNF Arena.
Robinson, who missed his first start of the season for disciplinary reasons, came off the bench early in the first half and hit 3-of-7 shots from beyond the 3- point line. He connected on all four of his 3-point shots in the second half to finish 7-of-11 from the field.
Florida A&M (6-6) held a commanding 14-point lead at 64-50 with 3:02 left in the game when UNF mounted its rally. The Ospreys (1-10) finished with a 15-2 run and had a chance to win the game in the closing seconds, but reserve guard Jonson Yousefzadeh missed a jumper with four seconds remaining.
The Rattlers aided UNF's comeback by missing their final seven free throw attempts in the last 69 seconds.
UNF, which played without leading scorer Rashad Williams and starting forward Gallo Cham due to academic suspension, was led by center James Grimball with 20 points. The junior hit 14 of 19 attempts from the free throw line and had a thunderous dunk and a pair of free throws made in the final minute to aid in the UNF rally.
Aaron Caruthers added 13 points, Chris Timberlake 12 and Germaine Sparkes 11 for UNF in the loss. The Ospreys shot 39 percent for the game and hit 18 of 26 free throw attempts.
"I can't say how proud I am of our guys," UNF head coach Matt Kilcullen said. "We were shorthanded out there, but every one of our guys came to play and gave us a chance to win. We had a chance to win it at the end. Our guys were disappointed that we didn't pull it out, but they know they played a solid game. We've got something to build on from this."
UNF came out strong in the early going, battling back from an early deficit to lead by four points on five different occasions before the Rattlers took control. FAMU used a 14-3 run over the final eight minutes before halftime to build a 37-30 lead at the intermission.
FAMU stretched that advantage to as many as 15 points twice in the second half before UNF made its final charge. The Rattlers led 64-51 with 3:02 remaining and 66-58 with 1:09 to go. From there, Grimball rattled off four consecutive points and Caruthers nailed a 3-pointer with 24 seconds remaining to set up a wild finish.
After a pair of missed free throws by Joe Ballard with 23 seconds remaining, the Ospreys grabbed the rebound and set up for one last shot. Timberlake penetrated into the lane and found Yousefzadeh open, but the sophomore's 17 footer rattled out, and FAMU controlled the rebound as time expired.
UNF will take a week off for the Christmas holidays, returning to action on Thursday, Dec. 28, against Skidmore at UNF Arena. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m., and admission is free.
