Riley ties career-high with 21 points

Thursday, December 4

UNF Arena

7:45 p.m.

University of North Florida

-06, 01 ASun

Lipscomb

-33, 10 ASun

Lipscomb

North Florida

Cortez Riley scored 10 of his 21 points at the free throw line.

12/4/2008 11:10:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Senior's performance not enough in 69-54 loss

By: Shawn LaFata

Box Score

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – For the second outing in a row, University of North Florida senior point guard Cortez Riley scored a career high 21 points, but it wasn't enough to overcome an early deficit in a 69-54 loss to Lipscomb at UNF Arena.

Riley, who was celebrating his 22^nd birthday on Thursday, did most of his damage from the free throw line, hitting 10-of-12 shots from the charity stripe. He also chipped in three steals and three assists on the night.

The Bisons (3-3, 1-0 A-Sun) blistered the nets in the opening half of play, shooting 68.4 percent from the field, compared to a UNF (0-6, 0-1 A-Sun) team that shot only 28.6 percent in falling behind 35-19 at the break.

The Ospreys outplayed Lipscomb in the second half, outscoring the Bisons 35-34, while limiting Lipscomb to only nine baskets from the field.

Jordan Burgason came off the bench to lead Lipscomb with 17 points, while reserve Adnan Hodzic finished with a double-double, scoring 14 points and pulling down 11 rebounds.

"They came out and established themselves from the beginning and played with confidence," UNF head coach Matt Kilcullen said. "We were too quick with some of our shots in the first half but you have to give them credit for the game plan they put together."

The game was tight for the first five minutes of play, until the Bisons started finding a little momentum that led to a 19-2 run that gave them a 28-9 advantage. A Kyle Groothuis layup followed by a Germaine Sparkes jumper cooled the Lipscomb run, but wasn't enough to prevent a 35-19 deficit at the half.

Riley, Sparkes and Groothuis all had four points to lead the Ospreys at the break, while Burgason cashed in with three shots beyond the 3-point arc to lead all players with 11 points.

Lipscomb was able to maintain its double-digit lead throughout the second half, going up by as many as 20 before the Ospreys rallied late and pulled as close as 13 points after a pair of Matt Sauey free throws in the final minute of play. Riley did most of his damage in the second stanza, hitting 3-of-4 shots from the field and knocking down all 10 of his free throws in the half. Despite the performance, he was left with a bitter taste in his mouth after the team's second-straight loss to Lipscomb.

"We could have prepared ourselves better as a team," he said. "If we played like we did in the last five minutes of the game we could have won. It's tough to lose a home opener like that."

The loss ended the Ospreys string of six-straight wins in home openers.

Lipscomb won the battle of the boards 46-24 with Hodzic's 11 rebounds leading all players. Lipscomb's Michael Teller contributed 10 rebounds, matching his 10 points scored on the night. Stan Januska led UNF with four rebounds.

The Ospreys turned the ball over only seven times on the night and kept themselves in the contest by forcing 19 Lipscomb turnovers. Riley and Sauey each had three steals to lead UNF.

The team will not have much down time to get ready for its second conference matchup of the season, hosting Belmont on Saturday at 4:15 p.m.