University of North Florida
SAVANNAH STATE
UNF drops heartbreaker
1/30/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 30, 2007
SAVANNAH, Ga. - The University of North Florida men's basketball team overcame an eight-minute scoreless stretch in the second and rallied from a 12-point deficit to pull within a point with less than a minute to go.
Four chances to tie or take the lead failed to drop for the Ospreys from there, however, in a 49- 47 loss to Savannah State at Tiger Arena.
Chris Timberlake scored 16 points to lead the Ospreys (2-20) and hit a pair of crucial free throws with 10 seconds left to bring the Ospreys within a point. The junior couldn't connect on a pair of shots in the final 20 seconds - the first a 3- pointer that rimmed out with 18 seconds remaining and UNF trailing 47-45 and the other a layup with two seconds to go - and the Ospreys stayed winless on the road this year.
UNF put itself in position to win by clamping down defensively and rallying from a 43-31 deficit with a 12-1 run over a seven-minute span to pull within 46- 45 with 1:12 remaining on a putback dunk by James Grimball. Savannah State missed two of its final six free throw attempts from there to set up UNF with its chances.
"We had our opportunities at the end of the game," UNF head coach Matt Kilcullen said. "Our guys played great defense, and we battled back after being down. I was proud of the effort, but I just wish we could have gotten the win."
Joseph Flegler scored 13 points to lead Savannah State (9-15), which improved to 8-2 at home this year. The Tigers shot 37 percent for the game and hit just 6-of-26 shots from 3-point range and only 9-of-19 attempts from the free throw line.
UNF shot 33 percent for the game and hit just 6-of-15 3-pointers. The Ospreys outrebounded Savannah State, 35-33.
The Ospreys erased an early deficit with an 11-1 run midway through the first half to take a 16- 12 lead. From there, the Tigers caught fire after missing nine of their first 10 3-point attempts - getting three in a row from Joseph Flegler to fuel an 11-0 run that pushed SSU ahead 23-16.
The Tigers led 27-22 at halftime.
In the second half, UNF went ice cold, not scoring a field from the 14-minute mark until Aaron Caruthers drained a 3-pointer with 6:45 to play to cut the deficit to 43-34. Caruthers and Riley followed with layups on the Ospreys' next two possessions to bring UNF within 43-38 at the 4:52 mark.
A layup by Germaine Sparkes with 2:17 remaining brought UNF within 44-43. He was fouled on the play but missed the potential game-tying free throw. That set up the crazy finish.
The Ospreys return to action on Saturday when they travel downtown Veterans Memorial Arena to face cross-town rival Jacksonville in a SunTrust River City Rumble matchup. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. The game will be televised locally on Comcast Channel 14 and aired on WIOJ-AM 1010.
