University of North Florida
Tulsa
Ospreys fade late vs. Tulsa
11/12/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Tom Hammonds leads Ospreys with 17 points
Nov. 12, 2007
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The University of North Florida men's basketball team showed signs of life in the first half against Tulsa in the consolation round of the O'Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic on Monday night. In the end, it wasn't enough.
Ben Uzoh scored 20 points and Rod Earls added 18, leading Tulsa past UNF 83-66. Glenn Andrews scored 14 points for the Golden Hurricane (1-1), which shot 59 percent and outrebounded the Ospreys 32-21. Tulsa opened the tournament by losing to Hampton on Sunday night.
Tom Hammonds led North Florida (0-2) with 17 points and Justin Cecil had 13.
"We lost to a good team and I was pleased with our effort," UNF head coach Matt Kilcullen said. "We had too many turnovers (21), but we competed and showed a lot of improvement since playing Maryland on Sunday. We have to keep building and working. We have a young team that is learning as it goes."
The Ospreys fell behind 9-2 out of the gates but rallied for a 30-26 lead before Earls helped the Golden Hurricane take control, scoring 11 points in a four- minute span to push his team back in front for good. Tulsa led 39-30 at halftime.
Tulsa led 39-32 before Uzoh scored in the lane and added a three-point play to up the margin to 12. After North Florida closed to 53-44, Calvin Walls made two jumpers in an 11-3 spurt that gave the Golden Hurricane a 17-point cushion with 8:44 left.
UNF returns to action on Friday night when it plays host to Concordia College in its 2007-08 home opener. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. at UNF Arena.
