Box Score
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – East Tennessee State used a 15-4 run over a 6:51 span at the end of the first half and the start of the second to push a five point lead to 16 and held on for a 61-46 win over North Florida on Thursday, Feb. 25, at UNF Arena.
Up 24-19 with 3:09 to go in the first half, the Buccaneers ended the half on a 6-0 run to take a 31-19 lead into the break. ETSU then opened the second half on an 8-4 run to go up 39-23 and never let the Ospreys closer than nine points the rest of the game.
Even with the loss, UNF clinched seventh-place in the upcoming General Shale Brick Atlantic Sun Championships, March 3-6, in Macon, Ga., after Lipscomb defeated eighth-place Kennesaw State Thursday night.
UNF will face the No. 2 seed in the A-Sun Tournament on Wednesday, March 3, at 9 p.m. at the University Center in Macon. North Florida's opponent is yet to be determined. Jacksonville currently leads the conference at 14-5, followed by Belmont, Lipscomb and Campbell all at 13-6 with one game remaining. If the Ospreys win on Wednesday, March 3, they will face the winner of the No. 3 seed vs. Mercer game on Friday, March 5, at 9 p.m. at the University Center.
North Florida is 13-16 overall and 8-11 in Atlantic Sun Conference play, while Kennesaw fell to 12-18 and 7-12 in league action. With just one league game remaining, the Ospreys lead Kennesaw by one game in the standings. If UNF and Kennesaw end the season tied the Ospreys earn the seventh seed in the upcoming tournament by having beaten the Owls both times this season.
The winner of A-Sun Championship earns the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division I Tournament. This is the first year that UNF is eligible for the Atlantic Sun Conference tournament after finishing its four-year reclassification period last year.
The Ospreys wrap up regular season action vs. Campbell on Saturday, Feb. 27, at 7 p.m. at UNF Arena on Senior Night. UNF will recognize its three seniors, Eni Cuka, Stan Januska and Germaine Sparkes, as well as senior manager, Josh Baker. The game is the second game of a doubleheader with the Osprey women.
Saturday's game can be heard on heard on AM 1320 WBOB and 103.7 FM in Jacksonville or on-line at 1320WBOB.com. Both the men's and women's games can be seen on www.ASun.TV.
“As God does he challenges us and gives us some obstacles,” said UNF head coach Matthew Driscoll. “You know sometimes God has a good sense of humor too. I'm not real happy right now. I can't figure out why we play the way we play at home and obviously it is what it is. You have to give East Tennessee State credit they came out and did a great job. When we cut the lead to five and had the ball they missed a bucket and they came back down and scored and got another play and scored again. I don't think we scored again the rest of the half at 19. That kind of separated the game. Then in the second half we got back to nine. I told our guys if we could get the score below 10 by that 12 minute media, and we did, but then before the 12 minute media it went back up to 15 and you can't do that. Our room for error is so small we have to be more consistent for those times. Obviously we did a good job defensively. They were 1-for-9 from 3-point range, 10-for-23 from the line we out rebounded them by 10. You know we do so many things right but we lose by 15 and again sometimes you've got to put the ball in the bucket and we got to do a better job or find a better way to put that ball in the bucket.”
Freshman forward Andy Diaz led UNF with his third double-double of the year with 15 points and 11 rebounds. All three of his double-double's have come in the last four games. He also added three blocked shots.
North Florida shot 30.2 percent from the field, 9.5 percent from behind the arc and 66.7 percent from the free throw line. The Bucs also shot 41.7 percent from the field, 11.1 percent from 3-point range and 43.5 percent from the line.
Sheldon Cooley led ETSU with 14 points, five rebounds and two assists.
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.
