UNF can't finish strong in loss to Mercer

Thursday, January 10

Macon, Ga.

7:00 PM

University of North Florida

Mercer

UNF freshman Justin Cecil

1/10/2008 8:32:10 PM | Men's Basketball

Ospreys fall 89-68 on road; Hammonds leads UNF with 14 points

By: Tom Strother, UNF Athletics

BOX SCORE

MACON, Ga. - The University of North Florida men's basketball team gave Mercer 25 minutes of all it could handle on Thursday night in their Atlantic Sun Conference matchup at Mercer's University Center.

The Bears did the majority of the giving the rest of the way in posting a 89-68 win over UNF.

Shaddean Aaron scored 29 points for Mercer (7-8, 2-0 A-Sun), fueling a 14-4 run by the Bears midway through the second half to break open a close game and help them pull away for their fifth straight win over the Ospreys (1-14, 0-3 A-Sun). Mercer shot 53 percent for the game, while UNF shot just 31 percent -- including a 29 percent clip in the second half.

Tom Hammonds led UNF with 14 points.

"It all started on the defensive end for us," UNF head coach Matt Kilcullen said. "They really took it to us. They have two players who believe they can take any shot at any time and make it. And they did. We played a good 29 minutes, but we have to be able to put a complete game together. Our guys came out and gave a great effort, but we have to work and keep getting better."

Things started off well for UNF, which grabbed a quick 18-15 lead out of the gates on the heels of strong 3-point shooting. The Ospreys nailed four of their first seven attempts from beyond the arc as the teams battled back and forth early. UNF led 35- 32 with 1:44 to play before halftime but couldn't hold it. A 5-0 by the Bears pushed them ahead 37-35 at intermission.

In the second half, UNF stayed close -- trailing just 50-48 with 13:10 remaining before the Bears turned up the defensive pressure. Mercer tallied seven blocks -- all in the second half -- while outrebounding UNF 28-18 over the final 20 minutes and 51-39 for the game.

After making four of their first seven from 3- point range, the Ospreys missed their next 14 attempts before hitting two shots late. UNF was 6-of- 25 from 3-point range, while Mercer was 7-of-19. James Florence added 20 points for Mercer.

UNF will cap its two-game swing through Georgia on Saturday when it plays at Kennesaw State. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. at the KSU Convocation Center. The game will be aired live in Jaconsonville on WBOB-AM 1320 and live via the internet at ASUN.TV.