University of North Florida
ETSU
UNF Advances to A-Sun Championship Game
3/5/2011 1:05:14 AM | Men's Basketball
Final Boxscore
MACON, Ga. -- Sophomore David Jeune recorded his second career double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds helping lead sixth-seed North Florida to an upset of second-seeded ETSU 59-55 Friday in the General Shale Brick Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament at Mercer's University Center.
UNF (15-18) advances to face top-seed Belmont in the championship game Saturday at 6 p.m., on ESPN2. The win, a program record fifth straight, was the 200th in North Florida program history and marked the first ever victory over ETSU (22-11).
The Ospreys, in just their 19th season of basketball and only second year of eligibility in the A-Sun, will be making the program's first appearance in a conference championship game.
Parker Smith scored 13 points to share team honors with Jeune. Andy Diaz added 11 points and Jerron Granberry finished with 10 including a trio of three-pointers.
A-Sun Player of the Year Mike Smith scored 20 points to pace the Bucs in a losing cause.
“God is good and I have truly been blessed in my career,” said UNF head coach Matthew Driscoll. “I am so happy and proud of this team. Tonight was another terrific team effort. This group of players really likes each other and are playing with great confidence right now. All season we have continued to battle and we are enjoying a great level of success right now. We just need to keep doing what we are doing in the championship game tomorrow. When I was hired I said I wanted our program to play for championships and now we get our chance.”
The first half was a back-and-forth battle featuring three lead changes and four ties. Neither squad held larger than a four-point advantage until the Ospreys used a 10-1 run to seize a 29-20 lead with 3:10 left in the period. During the run, the UNF defense held ETSU scoreless for four minutes.
The Bucs answered with a seven-point surge of their own but a jumper by Brad Haugabrook in the final minute sent the upset-minded Ospreys into the locker room with a 31-27 halftime advantage. ETSU out-rebounded UNF, 16-11, in the half with Jeune collecting seven of the Ospreys' total.
Coming out of the half, UNF quickly pushed its lead to near double-digits. The Ospreys held their largest lead of the night, 46-37, following a three-pointer by Jimmy Williams with 11:20 remaining.
From that point, ETSU began to slowly chip away at the North Florida lead. UNF cooled on the offensive end going nearly nine minutes with a field goal and over five minutes without scoring a point. During the slump, the Bucs used a six-point surge to pull within two.
Granberry connected on a deep three with 2:02 left to halting the drought and putting the Ospreys in front by five, 55-50. ETSU would score five of the next six points trimming the margin to one in the final minute but Jeune corralled the rebound of a missed jumper by Adam Sollazzo with 14 seconds on the clock and then connected on a pair of free throws to secure the victory.
For the game, UNF held the Bucs to 35 percent shooting from the field including a 2-16 performance from the three-point line. The Ospreys also finished with 12 assists on 18 baskets in the game.
