University of North Florida
-59, 21 ASun
Campbell
-76, 13 ASun
Ospreys Swoop Past Campbell for Key Road Victory
1/5/2011 11:58:26 PM | Men's Basketball
Final Box
BUIES CREEK, N.C. – The University of North Florida men's basketball team outlasted Campbell for a 57-55 road win in a highly competitive Atlantic Sun game Wednesday at the Pope Center/Gore Arena.
UNF (5-9, 2-1 A-Sun) halted a six-game losing skid with the victory, which also marked the first win at Campbell (7-6, 1-3) in program history.
Parker Smith finished with 15 points to lead a trio of UNF players in double digits. Jerron Granberry had 13 followed by Andy Diaz with 10. Jimmy Williams chipped in eight points, seven rebounds and six assists for the Ospreys while also connecting on a pair of free throws in the closing seconds to secure the win.
Lorne Merthie scored 11 points to lead the Camels, who also got 10 points from Amir Celestin and 10 rebounds by Marvelle Harris.
“It feels good to get back on the winning track,” said UNF head coach Matthew Driscoll. “I thought we had a lot of guys contribute tonight. I was very proud of the resiliency the team played with especially the fight we showed battling back in the second half. We had 18 assists tonight and that's great but the real difference in the game was the 24 turnovers we forced.”
Campbell dictated the tempo for much of the opening half after scoring the first five points of the game. UNF tied the score at six before the Camels pushed back in front by five.
The Ospreys earned their first and only lead of the half, 14-13, with 8:48 remaining on a driving layup by Jimmy Williams. CU answered with a 7-0 run for their largest lead of the period. UNF pulled to within two points in the closing minute and trailed 28-24 at the break.
The Camels shot a smoldering 52.4 percent from the field in the first half but were haggered into 11 turnovers by a scrappy UNF defense.
UNF raced out of halftime scoring the first seven points en route to a 31-28 lead and forcing a timeout for the Camels just 30 seconds into the half. The two squads traded the lead over the next several minutes of play and neither team led by more than four points.
With Campbell holding a four-point advantage, 48-44, with 8:58 remaining in the contest, Granberry drilled his third trey of the game followed by five straight points from Brad Haugabrook giving the Ospreys a four-point edge less than a minute later.
Over the next several minutes, both teams turned up their defensive effort with a lay-up by Campbell at the 5:09 mark the only points scored in a six minute span. A three-pointer by Eric Griffin with 1:14 left gave the Camels their final lead, 53-52.
After going scoreless for seven minutes, UNF finally got back on the board and regained the lead by one following a pair of free throws by Smith with just under a minute remaining. Will Wilson made one shot from the charity stripe with 26 ticks on the clock and then Williams made his game icing shots from the line with 13 seconds left to put UNF in front, 57-53.
Celestin trimmed the deficit to two with a layup at the seven second mark but his 12-foot floater at the buzzer missed the mark allowing the Ospreys to earn the road win.
For the game, Campbell shot 55 percent from the field (22-40) including making four of five three-point attempts but 24 turnovers overshadowed the solid shooting. UNF recorded 18 assists on 21 baskets while shooting 42 percent (21-50) from the floor and committed just 15 turnovers.
UNF concludes its three-game road swing with a pair of games in Nashville against Belmont on Saturday and Lipscomb on Monday.
