Ospreys fall to Belmont at home

Saturday, December 6

UNF Arena

4:15 p.m.

University of North Florida

-07, 02 ASun

Belmont

-33, 11 ASun

Belmont

North Florida

Kyle Groothuis his 5-of-6 shots from the field.

12/6/2008 7:57:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Grothuis, Riley finish game in double figures

By: Shawn LaFata

Box Score

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The University of North Florida men's basketball team fell victim to a red hot Belmont squad that nailed 15 shots beyond the 3-point arc at UNF Arena Saturday in an 89-55 loss.

Seven different players hit a 3-pointer for the Bruins (3-3, 1-1 A-Sun), which remained undefeated against the Ospreys.

Kyle Groothuis (11) and Cortez Riley each had double-digit point totals for the Ospreys, with Groothuis leading the way after hitting 5-of-6 shots from the field.

"We played hard and came out focused on both ends of the floor," UNF head coach Matt Kilcullen said. "Belmont is a good team and they can turn a six or seven-point game into a 12 or 13-point game very quickly."

The Bruins shot 59.2 percent from the floor with more than half of their made baskets coming from long range. The Ospreys shot 39.3 percent from the field, and hit 3-of-6 long-range shots in the second half of play.

The Ospreys hung tough early, battling back and forth with Belmont in the first 10 minutes of play. The Bruins took an early 13-8 lead thanks to a couple of 3-point baskets by Andy Wicke, but UNF came right back and made it a 16-14 game thanks in part to a couple of Groothuis baskets and a driving layup by Riley.

With is 10 points in the game, Riley has now scored in double figures in all but one game this season and in five straight.

Trailing by two, UNF watched Belmont suddenly begin to pull away toward the end of the opening half, thanks mostly to four made baskets from long range. Belmont held a 43-27 lead at the break with Wicke and Keaton Belcher each scoring nine points to lead all players. Both Groothuis and Riley had eight for the Ospreys.

Wicke led all players in the game with 17 points, hitting all four of his shots beyond the 3-point arc. Keaton Belcher followed him with 13, while Shane Dansby had 12.

The Bruins quickly upped their advantage to 24 points early in the second half after Wicke and Matthew Dotson opened the half with 3-pointers. A Stan Januska layup made it a 56-33 contest but that's as close as UNF would get the rest of the way. The Ospreys were able to put together one last rally in the last five minutes of play, capping that off with a Jordan Fair 3-pointer. Fair saw 11 minutes of action for the Ospreys, finishing the game with three points.

"We just need to keep playing hard and carry over some of the intensity we showed today into our next game," Fair said.

UNF only lost the rebounding battle by one, 33-32. Matt Sauey and Zack Riggins led the Ospreys with five rebounds each. Belmont's Jon House had nine rebounds to lead all players. The Ospreys had nine steals in the game and turned the ball over 18 times, compared to 16 Bruin turnovers.

"We have only played two conference games so far," Kilcullen said. "There is a lot of basketball left to play this season."

UNF will step out of A-Sun play for its next contest, heading to Clemson on Dec. 16 for a 7 p.m. game.