University of North Florida
-812, 54 ASun
Mercer
-614, 36 ASun
UNF Bests Bears for Third Straight Win
1/22/2011 9:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Final Box
MACON, Ga. – The University of North Florida men's basketball team earned its third straight win Saturday night after shooting 55.3 percent from the field in a hard fought 74-64 victory over Mercer at the University Center.
UNF (8-12, 5-4 Atlantic Sun) shot a blistering 61 percent in the second half while holding the Bears (6-14, 3-6) to just 32 percent shooting. It marked the first win in Macon for the Osprey program and halted a four-game losing skid to Mercer.
A quartet of Ospreys reached double digits in the game led by 17 points from Parker Smith including five three-pointers. Jimmy Williams and Andy Diaz both scored 12 while Jerron Granberry pitched in 10 points. The trio also shared the team lead with six rebounds each.
The UNF defense forced 18 turnovers and collected eight steals. Offensively, Will Wilson handed out a career-best eight assists in helping the Ospreys to 18 helpers on 26 buckets.
Brian Mills finished with 16 points to lead four Bears in double digits.
“I'm really proud of all the guys and the effort we continue to play with,” said UNF head coach Matthew Driscoll. “We shot extremely well and did a great job of sharing the ball tonight. I thought we played with phenomenal energy down the stretch and made some really big plays. I really feel that our preseason schedule prepared us for these games.”
Mercer and UNF traded baskets to start the game, but the Bears broke open the scoring to take a four point 10-6 lead after four and half minutes of play. UNF responded with a 5-0 run to take its first lead of the game at the 13:51 mark. Mercer answered with a 7-0 run, to go up 18-11 with 11:29 left in the half. Back-to-back three pointers from the Ospreys cut the Bears' lead down to one (18-17) with 9:48 on the clock.
The Bears maintained a lead and were up 24-20 with just under seven minutes to go, but UNF went on a 11-2 run over the next three minutes to take a 31-26 lead with 3:48 left before the break. Mercer would get no closer than two in the final minutes as the Ospreys took a 35-31 lead into halftime.
Out of the break, UNF pushed its lead to double digits early in the second half after outscoring Mercer 14-5 over the opening five minutes taking a 49-36 lead.
The Ospreys built their largest lead, 59-41, with 11:45 remaining but then went scoreless for over six minutes as Mercer used a 10-0 surge to close the deficit to eight. Williams ended the drought after hitting his third trey of the game with 5:52 on the clock.
Mercer got to within six points twice in the closing minutes but a pair of baskets by Diaz and free throws from Granberry and Wilson helped the Ospreys close out the victory.
North Florida now returns to UNF Arena to open a four-game home stand beginning Wednesday against cross-town rival Jacksonville at 7 p.m.
