University of North Florida
WILLIAM & MARY
UNF falls to William & Mary
12/8/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 8, 2006
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - The University of North Florida men's basketball team wrote a storyline similar to its recent fortunes when it faced off against William & Mary on Friday night in a 61-44 loss.
Cold shooting early. A gritty second-half rally. An inability to finish down the stretch.
The Ospreys (1-8) battled back from a three-point halftime deficit to take a brief second- half lead against the Tribe (4-4) at Kaplan Arena but couldn't sustain their good fortune from there - being outscored 27-10 over the final 12 minutes to drop their fifth consecutive game.
UNF got 15 points from Chris Timberlake but shot just 33 percent for the game and hit only five of 17 shots from 3-point range. The Ospreys also hit just three of their final 17 shots during the decisive William & Mary run.
The Tribe shot 43 percent despite a cold start and got double-figure scoring from four players - led by Nathan Mann's 13 points.
"We have to believe we are going to make shots," UNF head coach Matt Kilcullen said. "We have to make shots, and we make it a lot tougher on ourselves when we don't make shots in the paint. For the most part, we battled hard. We just need to get some guys to make shots."
Things started well enough.
The Ospreys jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first two minutes on a baskets by Timberlake and Germaine Sparkes before William & Mary answered with a 9-0 run over the next four minutes. From there, the teams battled back and forth - with neither team able to make a sizable run and take control. UNF hit just three of its first 18 shots and committed nine turnovers, while William & Mary hit just two of nine shots from 3-point range in the first half and committed eight turnovers.
The Tribe led 21-18 at halftime.
In the second half, UNF came out firing and battled back to take a 30-29 lead with 14:16 remaining on a Timberlake layup. After a quick Tribe spurt, the Ospreys battled back again to tie the game at 34 with 11:43 remaining.
From there, wheels fell off for UNF. William & Mary went on a 16-3 run over the next eight minutes to put the game away. The Tribe led by 20 points down the stretch.
Rashad Williams added nine points and six rebounds for UNF.
UNF will return home and take four days off for final exams before opening a seven-game homestand next Saturday against Edward Waters College. The exhibition matchup will tip off at 2 p.m. at UNF Arena. The game will be televised locally on Comcast of Jacksonville Channels 13 and 99.
