University of North Florida
GARDNER-WEBB
Gardner-Webb overtakes UNF
1/4/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 4, 2007
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The University of North Florida men's basketball team came out firing on Thursday night in its Atlantic Sun Conference matchup with Gardner-Webb at UNF Arena.
The Ospreys simply couldn't keep a good thing going.
After jumping out to an 18-5 lead in the first four minutes, UNF faltered down the stretch in losing 72-52.
Thomas Sanders scored 19 points off the bench, including a 13-for-24 performance from the free throw line to lead the way for the Bulldogs, one of four players in double figures. GWU outrebounded UNF 38-25 and took advantage of cold shooting second-half shooting by the Ospreys to erase a two- point halftime deficit and pull away.
UNF (2-12, 0-4 A-Sun) got a career-high 18 points from Germaine Sparkes and 15 points and 10 rebounds from James Grimball. The double-double was Grimball's third in his last five games.
"We came out strong and played with tremendous intensity and effort in the first half," UNF head coach Matt Kilcullen said. "We just didn't sustain that for 40 minutes. We lost our edge in the second half and didn't make the plays we needed to make. This is a disappointing loss."
UNF shot 38 percent for the game, including just a 26 percent clip after halftime. Gardner-Webb (3-10, 1-1 A-Sun) shot 51 percent for the game and hit 21 of 38 free throws in snapping a four-game losing streak.
After UNF jumped out to its early advantage, the Bulldogs responded with a 16-4 run to pull within 22- 21 on Grayson Flitter's 3-pointer with 8:36 to play in the opening half. The Ospreys led 29-27 at halftime.
In the second half, Matt French's 3-pointer with 18:55 remaining put the Bulldogs up 32-29, and they never trailed again - outscoring UNF 16-5 to open the half and 45-23 over the final 20 minutes.
UNF returns to action on Tuesday night when it plays host to city rival Jacksonville University in the SunTrust River City Rumble rivalry series. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. at UNF Arena, and the game will be televised live on CSS across the Southeast.
