University of North Florida
-510, 22 ASun
Belmont
-133, 50 ASun
Belmont Tops UNF
1/8/2011 10:13:59 PM | Men's Basketball
Final Box
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Belmont Bruins displayed a strong and balanced attack in handing the University of North Florida men's basketball team a 91-59 defeat Saturday afternoon at the Curb Event Center.
The Ospreys (5-10, 2-2 A-Sun) kept things close early but struggled in the second half as the Bruins (13-3, 5-0) remained undefeated at home this season.
Belmont converted 24 UNF turnovers into 38 points and also got 59 points from their bench on their way to earning an eighth victory in their last nine games. The Bruins also shot 58.3 percent from the floor in the game while holding the Ospreys to 42 percent including just 36 percent in the second half.
Sophomore Jerron Granberry went 10-for-11 from the free throw line and scored 18 points to lead the UNF attack. Parker Smith added nine points while Andy Diaz finished with eight points and a team-best six rebounds.
All 12 Bruins got in the scoring column with five players hitting double digits led by 15 points from Scott Saunders.
“This was a tough game for us,” said UNF head coach Matthew Driscoll. “Our live turnovers really killed us today. I thought we had cleaned up those issues the last couple of games but they popped back up and cost us in this game. We just have to stay focused, get back to work and continue to trying to get better.”
The two squads traded the lead several times of the opening minutes before an 11-3 run allowed the Bruins to grab the early momentum. However, Diaz converted an old-fashioned three-point play followed by a trey from Smith and the Ospreys knotted the score at 16-16 with 11:35 remaining in the first half.
UNF would struggle on the offensive end over the next 10 minutes as the Bruins mounted a 20-6 run that included a six-minute scoreless stretch for the Ospreys. By the end of the run, Belmont held a 36-22 lead with a little over a minute left in the period.
Granberry hit a pair of three-pointers and scored the final eight points of the half for UNF but JJ Mann countered with back-to-back treys of his own in the closing minute to send the Bruins up 44-30 at the half.
The first five minutes of the second half included 12 foul calls and a 9-1 spurt by Belmont that seemed to put the game out of reach. The Ospreys would get no closer than 19 points the rest of the day as the Bruins maintained a comfortable advantage throughout the closing period.
UNF concludes its current three-game road swing with a second game in Nashville Monday against Lipscomb at 7:15 p.m. (CT)
