Scrappy Ospreys come back <br>to beat USC Upstate by one - University of North Florida Athletics

Friday, January 30

UNF Arena

7 p.m.

University of North Florida

-516, 38 ASun

USC Upstate

-416, 38 ASun

USC Upstate

North Florida

Zack Riggins (middle) has scored in double figures his last two outings.

Scrappy Ospreys come back
to beat USC Upstate by one

1/30/2009 10:13:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Zack Riggins leads effort with 14 points

By: Shawn LaFata

Box Score

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The University of North Florida men's basketball team overcame a 13-point deficit over the final 12 minutes of play to pull off a 51-50 win against USC Upstate at UNF Arena and split the season series with the Spartans.

The win was the second in a row for the Ospreys (5-16, 3-8 A-Sun) and the second-straight contest in which they made up a double-digit deficit in the second half of play.

"This was the second game in a row where we were down double digits and found a way to win," UNF head coach Matt Kilcullen said. "The guys have done a great job on the defensive end the last four games and tonight's game was a hard-fought conference win."

UNF has surrendered only 53.4 points in its last four outings and held USC Upstate to 37.2 percent shooting from the field, while handling the Spartans (4-16, 3-8 A-Sun) on the boards. UNF won the rebounding battle 36-30 and pulled down several big rebounds down the stretch.

Zack Riggins helped lead the Osprey comeback, scoring a team-high 14 points, nine of which came in the second half.

After scoring only four points in the first eight minutes of the second half, UNF finally got its offense cranked up with 11:58 to play. The defense started to join in a couple of minutes later and four points in a row by Riggins had the Ospreys back in the contest and only down 43-39 with 7:38 to play.

Upstate managed to keep its advantage for the next four minutes of play until back-to-back 3-point plays by Riggins and Germaine Sparkes gave the Ospreys a 49-47 advantage, their first since the 3:51 mark of the opening half. Riggins gave UNF its final points of the game with 2:05 to play, putting back an Eni Cuka miss to give his squad a 51-47 lead. Riggins was fouled on the play but failed to convert the 3-point opportunity.

The Ospreys free throw shooting kept the Spartans in the contest down the stretch, with the team missing three shots from the charity stripe the could have put the contest away.

UNF dodged a couple of late bullets as well after Bobby Davis – who scored a game high 19 points and pulled down 16 rebounds – watched a layup opportunity slide off the back of the rim. Davis was fouled on the play and had an opportunity to tie the game. He missed his second free throw attempt, leaving the Ospreys with a one-point advantage.

De'Marion Gordon had one final look at the basket for the Spartans, but watched his half court heave bounce off the iron and fall safely to the floor giving UNF its second two-game winning streak of the season.

"We responded well and our emotions were up in the final 10 minutes of the game," Riggins said. "We played hard and stayed aggressive. It really started for us on the defensive end."

Riggins added four rebounds and a steal to his totals on the night as well as a 3-point basket. Riley pulled down a career-high eight rebounds to lead the Ospreys, while Cuka had eight points and a pair of assists.

Gabor Boros followed Davis with nine points for the Spartans, scoring all of his points beyond the 3-point arc.

Upstate came out firing from long range in the opening half, scoring its first nine points beyond the 3-point arc. Those shots helped give Upstate an early 14-3 advantage before 3-pointers by Riggins and Jordan Fair got the Ospreys back into the contest. A Matt Sauey dunk gave the Ospreys their first lead of the game before another Sauey basket in the paint completed a 15-1 run that saw UNF take an 18-15 advantage. Upstate put together a 9-2 run of its own to close out the half, taking a 24-20 lead on Boros' third long-range basket of the half.

Boros led all players at the break with nine points, while Fair and Riggins had five points apiece to lead the Ospreys.

UNF committed 11 turnovers in the game compared to nine for the Spartans. The Ospreys scored 11 points off of those Upstate turnovers and outscored the Spartans in the paint 24-18.

The Ospreys will return to action on Sunday afternoon when they host East Tennessee State at 2 p.m.