University of North Florida
-511, 23 ASun
Lipscomb
-96, 42 ASun
Ospreys Suffer Late Fall in 80-76 loss at Lipscomb
1/10/2011 5:21:20 PM | Men's Basketball
Final Box
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The University of North Florida men's basketball team held control over Lipscomb for 36 minutes Monday afternoon but a late charge by the Bison resulted in a disappointing 80-76 loss at Allen Arena.
The Ospreys (5-11, 2-3 A-Sun) built a double-digit lead in the first half and didn't trail in the contest until a layup by Josh Slater with 4:33 remaining gave Lipscomb (9-6, 4-2) their first lead of the game.
Parker Smith scored 16 points in leading a quartet of UNF players in double digits which also included Andy Diaz (13), Jimmy Williams (13) and Jerron Granberry (11).
Slater finished with a game high 30 points for the Bison and made 15-of-19 free throw attempts. Reigning A-Sun Player of the Year Adnan Hodzic had 14 points while battling foul trouble all day.
“This one hurts because we feel like we let a road win slip away,” said UNF head coach Matthew Driscoll. “We didn't play for the full 40 minutes and you don't win games if you don't play the whole game. We have to continue moving forward and we are definitely looking forward to getting home and playing in front of our fans.”
While snow fell on the outside of the arena, UNF scorched the nets on the inside racing to an 18-9 lead through the first six minutes of play. The Ospreys made their first seven shots including back-to-back treys by Williams and Granberry to open the game.
North Florida extended its lead to double digits later in the first period as the hot shooting continued. The Ospreys shot a blistering 64 percent (16-25) from the floor for the half. Lipscomb trimmed its deficit to single digits just before the half trailing 40-31 at the break.
The Ospreys maintained a multi-possession edge through the first several minutes of the second half. Lipscomb pulled to within one, 57-56, with 8:54 remaining but a three-pointer by Granberry and a four-point play from Smith pushed UNF back in front by eight less than a minute later.
From that point, the Bison slowly chipped away at the North Florida lead eventually closing to within a point twice more before a layup from Slater gave Lipscomb its first lead of the game, 69-68, with 4:33 left to play.
A Smith trey with 3:19 on the clock gave the Ospreys their final lead of the game 73-71 but back-to-back baskets for Hodzic put Lipscomb back in front for good.
Slater made five three throws in the final 30 seconds to secure the win for the Bison.
UNF next returns home for the first time in 2011 hosting Atlantic Sun rival ETSU Thursday at 7 p.m.
