University of North Florida
ETSU
ETSU Outruns Ospreys
2/13/2011 6:17:56 PM | Men's Basketball
Boxscore
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – A fast start propelled ETSU to an 80-57 victory over the University of North Florida men's basketball team Sunday afternoon at the MSHA Athletic Center.
UNF (10-16, 7-8 Atlantic Sun) falls to 10-17 overall and 7-9 in the Atlantic Sun while ETSU (18-9, 13-3) captured their fifth win in their last six games.
Andy Diaz and Matt Sauey each scored 10 points to lead the Ospreys. Diaz just missed a double-double pulling down nine rebounds while Will Wilson handed out six assists.
ETSU senior Mike Smith finished with a career-best 29 points and hauled down a team-high 11 rebounds to lead the Bucs in his final home appearance. Isiah Brown added 18 points for ETSU and Micah Williams chipped in 15.
“I am disappointed in this performance,” said UNF head coach Matthew Driscoll. “We have to be better than this. We struggled to guard them and we just didn't have an answer for Mike Smith. I thought we missed some opportunities to score early in the game and then we just fell too far behind. We have to get some things worked out as we head down the home stretch.”
The Buccaneers charged out of the gate scoring the first eight points en route to an opening 19-4 run over the beginning seven minutes of play. Mike Smith and Isiah Brown combined to score all of the ETSU points in the run.
North Florida regrouped scoring seven straight points and trimming the deficit to single digits following a Parker Smith three-pointer with 10:55 left in the half. The Bucs responded with the next 13 points to build their largest advantage of the period, 32-11, at the 6:21 mark.
Led by five points from Granberry and four points by Diaz, UNF cut the margin to 11 points, 34-23, behind a 12-2 surge over a five-minute span. ETSU got a pair of late baskets and carried a 41-26 lead into the half.
UNF shot just 31 percent (9-29) from the floor and committed 10 turnovers in the opening stanza while the Bucs connected at a 47 percent pace (16-34) and got 30 points from Smith (18) and Brown (12).
Coming out of the break, ETSU used a 10-3 spurt in the first three minutes to regain a 20-point advantage. The Ospreys would not go away mounting a 12-6 run to cut the Bucs lead but nine unanswered points for ETSU allowed them to reclaim the momentum.
ETSU maintained a sizeable advantage the remainder of the game earning their 11th consecutive victory over the Ospreys.
North Florida next returns to Jacksonville for its final home stand of the season with games Friday against Mercer and Sunday versus Kennesaw State.
