University of North Florida
ETSU
ETSU grounds Ospreys
1/13/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 13, 2007
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Jan. 13, 2007) - The University of North Florida men's basketball team needed a strong start against Atlantic Sun Conference contender East Tennessee State on Saturday afternoon. Instead the Ospreys got a strong finish that came too late.
UNF couldn't overcome a sluggish opening half against the Buccaneers at ETSU's Memorial Center, losing 77-58 in Atlantic Sun Conference action.
ETSU's Courtney Pigram scored 15 points, one of five players in double figures for the Buccaneers, helping ETSU (12-7, 6-1 A-Sun) move into a first-place tie with Belmont atop the league standings with the win.
UNF (2-14, 0-6 A-Sun) got 12 points from James Grimball and 11 points each from Chris Timberlake and Arnold Henry, but 24 turnovers and a 47-33 rebounding deficit proved to be too much to overcome. ETSU converted UNF's miscues into 27 points and collected 21 rebounds on the offensive end.
ETSU led 37-23 at halftime and exploded early in the second half in building as much as a 27- point lead - using a 17-5 run to go ahead 70-43 with 7:51 remaining. The Ospreys outscored ETSU 15-7 the rest of the way to account for the final margin, however, despite ETSU employing its full-court press for much of the stretch.
"I thought our guys battled," UNF head coach Matt Kilcullen. "Turnovers really cost us, and we didn't execute on the offensive end as well as we wanted to at times. I was proud of our effort, and encouraged by some of the things I saw. We played one of the best teams in the conference, and you can't make turn the ball over like we did and expect to be in the game."
UNF shot 44 percent for the game but had 23 fewer field goal attempts than the Buccaneers, who were effective on the offensive end but inconsistent. ETSU shot 35 percent for the game and was just 7-of-27 from 3-point range.
ETSU jumped out to a 14-2 lead to open the game and was never really challenged afterward. UNF sliced its deficit to 26-16 late in the first half but couldn't get any closer. The Buccaneers led 41- 29 two minutes into the second half before opening a 12-4 run that pushed them ahead 53-33 with 12:44 to go.
Henry scored all of his points in the second half to help UNF make its late charge. The Ospreys shot 53 percent over the final 20 minutes (14-of-27), while ETSU shot just 35 percent (12-of-34).
UNF will cap its two-game road swing with a trip to Kennesaw State on Monday afternoon. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. at the KSU Convocation Center. The game will not be aired on radio but will be webcast live on the World Wide Web at www.UNFOspreys.com.
