University of North Florida
-68, 13 ASun
Mercer
-68, 22 ASun
Mercer Escapes UNF Arena With 84-79 Win Over Ospreys
1/4/2010 11:30:28 PM | Men's Basketball
Bears make 32-37 from free throw line in win
Box Score
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Mercer needed 32 made free throws, including a stretch of 22 in a row, to escape UNF Arena with a narrow 84-79 victory over North Florida in Atlantic Sun Conference play on Monday, Jan. 4.
The win snapped a five-game winning streak for the Ospreys, their third longest streak in school history, and dropped UNF's record to 6-8 and 1-3 in A-Sun play. Mercer improved to 6-8 and 2-2 in conference action.
Mercer went 32-37 from the free throw line and 25-27 in the second half as the Bears didn't make a field goal in the final 10 minutes of the game.
The largest leads for each team was eight points in a game that included 12 lead changes and five ties.
Mercer held an eight point advantage with 4:32 to play but UNF rallied to cut the lead to one at 76-75 with 35 seconds to play. North Florida was forced to foul and Mercer's James Florence made just one free throw to give the Bears a 77-75 lead. UNF's Brad Haugabrook, who led the Ospreys with 19 points, got into the lane and got a good look but his short jumper wouldn't fall and Mercer then made five of six free throws in the last 20 seconds to secure the win.
Haugabrook led five UNF players in double figures, with freshman Jerron Granberry scoring 15, freshman Andy Diaz 11 and senior's Stan Januska and Germaine Sparkes 10 each. Senior Daniel Emerson tossed in a career high 29 for Mercer, including 15-17 from the line. Florence added 26 and E.J. Kusnyer 10.
North Florida shot 46.8 percent (29-62) from the field for the game, while Mercer shot 44.0 percent (22-50). The Ospreys shot 46.7 percent (7-15) from behind the arc and 70.0 percent (14-20) from the free throw line. The Bears shot 38.1 percent (8-21) from 3-point range and the previously mentioned 86.5 percent (32-37) from the line.
The first half was a back and forth affair with four lead changes and three ties. North Florida owned the biggest lead of the half at eight but Mercer rallied to go up six and led 40-37 at the half. Florence had 10 at the half while Haugabrook paced UNF with nine. The Bears shot 51.9 percent from the field in the first half and UNF 45.2.
“Obviously it is quite a disappointing loss, and when we lose I'm responsible and when we win the glory goes to God, the staff and to our players,” said UNF head coach Matthew Driscoll. “I made some bad decisions tonight and I need to go back and evaluate the tape and see how we can make some better adjustments and better changes. Obviously when you make 32 out of 37 free throws you're going to win a lot of games we said that in the huddle it's about free throws and rebounding down the stretch and that's what it came down to. We had chances down the stretch to make some plays and the ball didn't go in. Just like the other night we kept getting stops and getting chances which I credit our guys on doing. Second half defensively we were much better at second chance shots. I mean those are the shots that hurt you the most in games like this. They are one of the best teams in the league, picked to win the league in a lot of publications and their coach does a great job with them. I've known him for a long time, we have coached with each other, against each other. I am very proud of our guys for fighting down the stretch and being organized for doing what we had to do. But I am nowhere near satisfied and we should have had us another victory at home. We will get back to work and get better. We leave for the road in a TV game against Florida Gulf Coast who had a big win against a Big East team and then we have Stetson on the road. We are going to get better, we are going to work. I am very proud of our guys.”
The Ospreys will now go on the road for a pair of conference games playing at Florida Gulf Coast on Friday, Jan. 8, at 7:05 p.m. in the CSS A-Sun TV game of the week, and then traveling to Stetson on Sunday, Jan. 10, for a 2 p.m. matchup.
Single-game tickets for basketball games are $10 for adults and $8 for youth 17-and-under and senior citizens 55-and-older. One ticket will admit you to both the 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. games on those days. Children 2-and-under and any current UNF student with a valid Osprey1 Card are admitted free. Student guest passes for those events are $5 and limited to one per student. If you are unable to attend the games they can be seen on ASun.tv.
