Ospreys Bash Bakersfield, 80-70

Saturday, December 22

Las Vegas, Nev.

2:30 pm (PT)

University of North Florida

4-8

CSU Bakersfield

4-8

Cal State Bakersfield

North Florida

12/22/2012 8:13:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Boxscore (pdf)
Game Book

LAS VEGAS, Nev. -- The North Florida basketball team snapped a four-game skid Saturday afternoon with an impressive 80-70 victory over Cal State Bakersfield in the opening game of bracket play in the Continental Tires Las Vegas Classic at the Orleans Arena.

With the win, North Florida (4-8) advances to Sunday's bracket championship game against Georgia Southern, who defeated Mississippi Valley State earlier in the day.

The Ospreys will be looking for their third regular season tournament title under Matthew Driscoll having claimed the championship in each of the previous two events.

Travis Wallace finished with 22 points and 9 rebounds, just missing a double-double, and Charles McRoy chipped in 15 points for the Ospreys. Parker Smith also reached double digits finishing with 13 points.

For the game, UNF shot a blistering 63 percent (26-41) from the floor and collected 18 assists. The Ospreys went 12-for-17 (70 percent) from the field in the second half.

Brandon Barnes led a quartet of Roadrunners in double figures finishing with 21 points. Fifteen offensive rebounds helped CSUB keep things close in the game.

"This was a great team effort and truly a team win," said Driscoll. "I thought we did a good job of sharing the ball tonight and were able to get good shots for several different players. Our bench continues to provide us with a lift on both ends of the floor. Our goal was to win another tournament championship and we gave ourselves that opportunity."

The Ospreys answered two quick buckets from Bakersfield with a 15-3 run to grab an early 15-7 lead after only six minutes of play. The Roadrunners battled back and eventually evened the score twice at 17 and 22.

UNF began to open up a slim advantage and closed the period with a 10-4 spurt en route to holding a 37-30 halftime lead.

North Florida seized control of the game after scoring the first eight points of the second half. The surge allowed the Ospreys to build a double-digit lead they would not relinquish. UNF held its largest lead, 76-59, with just over two minutes remaining.