University of North Florida
Kennesaw State
Ospreys rally past Owls, 72-68
2/3/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 3, 2006
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The North Florida men's basketball team had been down Heartbreak Road too many times this season. On Friday night at UNF Arena, the Ospreys decided to take a detour.
UNF (6-15, 3-11 A-Sun) got 23 points and 14 rebounds from senior Alain Laroche, and the Ospreys outscored Kennesaw State 8-0 over the final 1:25 to erase a four-point deficit and upend the Owls 72-68 in Atlantic Sun Conference action.
Rashad Williams also tallied a double-double for the Ospreys, finishing with 17 points and 11 rebounds as UNF snapped a six-game losing streak against KSU and won for the third time in four games at UNF Arena. The loss was the fourth straight for Kennesaw State (11-12, 9-5 A-Sun), which sat atop the A-Sun standings with a 9-1 record at the midway point of the conference season just two weeks ago.
UNF and KSU are both reclassifying into Division I this season after playing as rivals in the Division II Peach Belt Conference the last eight years.
"Defensively, we made big stop after big stop down the stretch," UNF head coach Matt Kilcullen said. "Our pressure defense at the end of the game paid dividends. Riley Didion really sparked us off the bench, too, and our guys got a lot of energy from the crowd when we needed it. This was a great team win."
UNF shot 47 percent for the game and outrebounded the Owls 43-26. KSU shot 44 percent and got a career-high 35 points from freshman Andre Morgan, including 22 in the first half. Morgan was 13-of-19 from the floor.
The Ospreys led by as many as 12 points in the first half but were up just 44-41 at halftime. In the second half, KSU and Morgan came out firing and used a 13-6 run in the first four minutes to take the lead.
The Owls led by six points on two occasions in the final 20 minutes - the last at 58-52 with 12:43 to play - and were up 68-64 with 1:25 remaining. UNF started its comeback from there, however, getting a pair of Laroche layups - the last of which tied the game at 68 with 54 seconds to go. After a Kennesaw State miss on the opposite end, Laroche grabbed the rebound in traffic and delivered an outlet to Didion, who was fouled at midcourt. The senior sank both free throws to push the Ospreys ahead 70- 68 with 15 seconds remaining.
UNF guard Chris Timberlake then made a steal on the ensuing inbounds play, and his two free throws iced the game with less than five seconds.
Timberlake finished with 15 points, three assists and four steals for the Ospreys, while Ryan Daugherty added 10 points. Brent Ragsdale was the only other KSU player to score in double figures, finishing with 13.
The Ospreys have too often fallen victim to heroic efforts finishing just short this season - losing seven games in conference play by eight points or less. In their last outing, Gardner-Webb took its only lead of the game on the final play with a buzzer-beater 3- pointer in a 69-68 loss. Such would not be the case on Friday.
"Our guys really battled back and put that tough loss behind them," Kilcullen said. "They came out with a lot of energy and lot of excitement."
UNF will try its hand against another of the A-Sun's top teams on Sunday when East Tennessee State visits UNF Arena for a 2 p.m. game. The game will be aired locally on WIOJ-AM 1010 and via the World Wide Web at www.UNFOspreys.com
