University of North Florida
11-14, 6-9ASun
Stetson
6-18, 4-12ASun
North Florida's Second Half Rally Falls Short, Lose 71-60 To Stetson
2/11/2010 10:50:48 PM | Men's Basketball
UNF plays host to Florida Gulf Coast on Saturday at 7 p.m.
JACKSONVILLE
UNF trailed by 15 points in the first half before cutting the deficit to 64-60 with just over a minute to play, but the Hatters hit seven free throws in the last minute of the game to hold on for the win.
The top eight teams in the A-Sun standings advance to the conference tournament, with the winner earning the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division I Tournament. The Ospreys sit in eighth and own a two-and-a-half game lead over Stetson with the Hatters having four games left to play and UNF five games remaining.
North Florida remains at home to face
The game can be heard on AM 1320 WBOB and 103.7 FM in
“Obviously we need to give Stetson credit. They came out and did well tonight, said UNF head coach Matthew Driscoll. “They went up early and shot the ball well. They made eight threes in the first half and really put us on our heels. We gave up 13 threes against
North Florida senior guard and second leading scorer Stan Januska returned to action after missing the last two games after suffering a bruised lung and ribs from a hard fall during the
For the second straight game the Ospreys started out slowly and fell behind big early. After UNF took a 4-2 lead at the 17:36 mark of the first half, Stetson went on a 20-4 run over a 6:30 span to go up 22-8 with 10:12 remaining before the break.
UNF would cut the lead to eight (37-29) with 3:25 left in the half but the Hatters went on a 9-2 run to go up 15 at 36-21 with 1:03 to go in the half.
Stetson shot 48.3 percent from the field in the first half and a scorching 50 percent from 3-point range, going 8-16. The Ospreys shot just 37.5 percent from the field in the first half. Sophomore forward Matt Sauey led UNF with 12 first-half points.
The Hatters maintained their lead for the first portion of the second half before the Ospreys made a mini-run to cut the lead to six at 47-41 midway through the second half. After Stetson went back up 10 (51-41), UNF would go on an 8-2 run to cut the lead to four at 53-49 with just over six minutes to play.
The Ospreys would again cut the lead to four at 64-60 but Stetson would put the game away from the free throw line.
Sauey led UNF with 18 points, while junior guard Brad Haugabrook and senior guard Germaine Sparkes added 10 each. Sauey led UNF with eight rebounds and Haugabrook led the Ospreys with six assists.
A.J. Smith led Stetson with 19 points.
Single-game tickets for basketball games are $10 for adults and $8 for youth 17-and-under and senior citizens 55-and-older. 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.
