Downtown shooting downs Ospreys

Thursday, February 26

Nashville, Tenn.

8:15 p.m.

University of North Florida

Belmont

Freshman Matt Sauey led bench scorers with eight and had two blocks

2/26/2009 10:25:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

UNF's three game winning streak was snapped Thursday night

By: Adam Jonson, UNF Athletics

Box Score

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Despite Atlantic Sun Conference Player of the Week Eni Cuka's 13 points, the University of North Florida men's basketball team fell to the nation's third-leading 3-point shooting team Belmont by a score of 87-49 Thursday night in Atlantic Sun Conference action.

UNF (8-21, 6-13 A-Sun) fell victim early to the style of play Belmont (18-10, 14-5) has become known for. The Bruins nailed eight 3-point field goals in the first half, posting a .535 3-point field goal percentage and a .613 overall field goal percentage in the first 20 minutes. Belmont racked up a 53-22 lead at the break.

In the second half, the Ospreys slowed the offensive firepower of Belmont, holding the home team to a .367 shooting percentage and .364 percentage behind the arc. The Bruins outscored UNF by only seven in the final frame, but halftime hole proved too much for the Ospreys to overcome.

Cuka, a junior, scored eight of his team-best 13 points in the first half while junior Stan Januska could not manage to get on the scoreboard in the opening half. Januska finally found his touch late in the second half and finished with eight points and a team-high seven boards. Freshman Matt Sauey also tallied eight while senior Cortez Riley netted seven.

The Bruins finished with 32 points in the paint compared to 18 by the Ospreys. Belmont turned 20 UNF turnovers into 27 points and scored 34 off the bench. Four players had double-digit scoring nights for Belmont with Alex Renfroe's 15 leading the way. The Bruins finished with 12 made 3-pointers in 26 attempts (46.2 percent).

The loss snapped a three-game UNF winning streak and moved UNF's all-time record at the Curb Event Center to 0-4.

The Ospreys' season will come to a close when they travel only a few miles down the road to tie up with Lipscomb at 3 p.m. Saturday.