Missed opportunities hurt Ospreys

Saturday, February 7

Kennesaw, Ga.

7:30 p.m.

University of North Florida

Kennesaw State

Cortez Riley gave UNF its first double-double of the season.

2/7/2009 10:03:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Struggles at free throw line lead to loss at Kennesaw

By: Shawn LaFata

Box Score

KENNESAW, Ga. – The University of North Florida men's basketball team struggled from the free throw line Saturday night in a 69-65 overtime loss to Kennesaw State.

"We put ourselves in a position to win the game but you have to put a team away at the free throw line," UNF head coach Matt Kilcullen said. "We had a prevent defense on at the end of the game with a 3-point lead and we were supposed to foul but we allowed them to hit a 3-pointer to force overtime."

UNF missed two critical free throws in the final minute of play and Kelvin McConnel buried a 3-pointer with one second to play to force overtime, where the Owls outscored the Ospreys 9-5.

The loss kept the Ospreys (5-18, 3-10 A-Sun) winless in their last eight overtime games and also winless at the Convocation Center.

The Kennesaw State (7-15, 3-10 A-Sun) win also snapped the Owls five-game losing streak and earned Kennesaw a season split with the Ospreys.

Cortez Riley notched his first career double-double to lead UNF on the floor, scoring 13 points to go along with 12 rebounds, a career high. Eni Cuka led the Ospreys with 20 points, knocking down four shots beyond the 3-point arc.

Jon-Michael Nickerson matched Cuka's 20 points, while McConnel followed him with 18. Six of Nickerson's points came in the extra session.

Kennesaw State hit a pair of 3-pointers out of the gates and made its first three shots from the field to take an 8-0 advantage. Stan Januska finally got UNF on the board with a 3-pointer from the left baseline to make it an 8-3 contest. Januska hit another 3-pointer to make it 10-8 before a pair of 3-pointers and three turnovers in four possessions by the Owls helped lead to an 18-16 UNF advantage with seven minutes to play in the opening half.

Cuka stayed hot after the teams went into their third media timeout of the half, giving the Ospreys a 21-16 advantage with his third 3-pointer of the game.

UNF led by as many as eight points in the first half before Spencer Dickson drilled a 3-pointer to make it a 32-27 contest. That's where the game stood at the break. Cuka led all players in the half with 11 points, while Riley followed him with seven points to go along with seven rebounds.

UNF controlled the boards in the opening half, outrebounding the Owls 17-10.

Nickerson led Kennesaw State with eight points in the half while McConnel had seven.

The Owls kept edging closer to the Ospreys over the first eight minutes of the second half until Artie Marine hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give Kennesaw State a 45-43 lead with 12:01 to play.

McConnel upped the Owls lead to 52-46 with a 3-pointer before the Ospreys came storming back with seven points in a row and took the lead on a Riley move to the basket that saw him split two defenders and kiss the ball off the backboard for a 53-52 UNF advantage.

Dixon finally broke an 8-0 UNF run with a running layup and a free throw on top of that which gave the Owls the advantage back at 55-54. Cuka answered that with his fourth 3-pointer of the game to give the Ospreys the lead back at 57-55.

Riley and Zack Riggins each hit 1-of-2 free throws in the final minute of play to keep UNF's advantage at three points. That wasn't enough, however, to prevent McConnel from forcing overtime with a 3-pointer from the right wing.

The Ospreys won the battle of the boards 38-27, pulling down 12 offensive boards. UNF turned the ball over 16 times on the night compared to 14 KSU giveaways.

The Ospreys will stay in Georgia for their next contest, traveling down the road to take on Mercer Monday night at 7 p.m.

UNF hot 8-of-19 free throws, missing eight of those in the second half of play and a couple of key attempts in the final minute of play.