University of North Florida
STETSON
UNF falls to Stetson barrage
2/15/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 15, 2007
DELAND, Fla. - The University of North Florida men's basketball team fell victim to a Stetson 3-point barrage on Thursday night in Atlantic Sun Conference basketball action, losing 74-63 at the Edmunds Center.
Stetson (10-17, 5-10 A-Sun) hit 12 of 20 attempts from 3-point range and got 22 points from little-used freshman reserve A.J. Smith, who hit all eight field goal attempts and all six 3-point attempts, in erasing a nine-point first-half deficit and winning for the third time in five games.
Chris Timberlake scored a season-high 21 points for the Ospreys (2-24, 0-15 A-Sun), one of four UNF players to score in double figures. UNF forced 21 turnovers to keep itself in the game, slicing a 14-point second-half deficit to just five with 3:20 to play. The Ospreys never could get over the hump, however, in losing their 14th straight game.
Germaine Sparkes added 13 points, Aaron Caruthers 12 and Cortez Riley 10 for UNF. The Ospreys shot 45 percent for the game but committed 17 turnovers of their own, which proved costly.
UNF played without junior center Arnold Henry, who has started the last three games, due to illness. Despite his absence, the Ospreys came out firing early -- getting a pair of early baskets each from Timberlake and Sparkes in building a 21-12 lead in the first 11 minutes.
From there, the Hatters -- and specifically Smith -- took over. Stetson hit seven of nine 3-pointers in one stretch to fuel a 26-5 run before halftime. Gabe McMillen's 3-pointer before the buzzer gave the Hatters a 36-26 lead at the intermission.
In the second half, Smith hit four of his six long-range bombs to push the Hatters out to their biggest lead of the game -- 47-33 with 12:33 remaining. UNF cut the margin to 60-54 with 3:07 to play, and had the ball with a chance to get closer, but a key charging call went against Timberlake, effectively ending the threat.
Stetson got 16 points from McMIllen, who was 3-for-5 from 3-point range. The Hatters shot 50 percent for the game, including 52 percent clip in the first half, and outrebounded UNF 30-26.
The Ospreys play their final road game of the season on Sunday at Mercer in Macon, Ga. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. The game will be aired on WIOJ-AM 1010 in Jacksonville.
