Ospreys show improvement, fall to Rice

Saturday, November 22

Provo, Utah

8 p.m.

University of North Florida

0-4

Rice

2-2

North Florida

Rice

Cortez Riley led UNF with 12 points.

11/22/2008 11:13:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Rice hands UNF 68-46 loss

By: Shawn LaFata

Box Score

Traveler's Invitational Blog

PROVO, Utah – The University of North Florida men's basketball team fell victim to 11 baskets beyond the 3-point arc in a 68-46 loss to Rice that closed out play for the Ospreys in the BYU Traveler's Invitational.

Rice (2-2) shot 47.2 percent from the field for the game and hit almost 35 percent of its 3-point shots. The Owls built a 13-point advantage at the half and kept adding to it in the second frame, putting the Ospreys (0-4) down by as many as 29 points before the Ospreys closed on a high note.

Cortez Riley led UNF with 12 points, while Cameron Lovelace got hot late in the game and finished with 11. Corey Pfleiger led Rice with 14 points, 12 of which came from long range. He helped Rice shoot 47.2 percent on the night, compared to UNF, which shot 32.7 percent.

UNF missed its first eight shots and fell behind early but kept the defensive pressure on and kept fighting, forcing seven turnovers in the half. The Ospreys trailed by as many as 17 points in the opening frame, after Rice knocked down five shots beyond the 3-point arc.

The Owls got a big lift from its bench, receiving 14 points from its reserves, compared to UNF, which scored six points off the bench. Rice finished with 25 overall off the bench.

Rice owned a 16-point lead in the final minute of the half, but a free throw by Januska, followed by a steal on the offensive end and a Cameron Lovelace jumper cut that to 13 by the first half horn.

Riley led the Ospreys with six points in the half. Four Owls also had six points to finish tied for the scoring lead in the opening half.

The Owls scored the first 12 points of the second half and held UNF scoreless for almost eight minutes until Riley followed a missed 3-pointer with a rebound and a basket to cut the Owl advantage to 46-23. Rice came right back, however, and knocked down its eighth 3-pointer of the game to take a 24-point advantage.

Riley scored five points in a row to make it a 52-30 game. The Owls scored the next eight points in the game before Cameron Lovelace broke that run with a 3-pointer from the left baseline.

Lovelace and Tyler Auerbacher combined for three 3-pointers in the final minutes of play for the Ospreys, but it wasn't enough to get the team back into the game.

The Ospreys are back in action next Friday when they travel to Charleston Southern for a 7:30 p.m. matchup.