Buzzer Beater by Nesbitt Nips Norse, 67-66

Thursday, January 30

Jacksonville, Fla.

7:30 pm

University of North Florida

12-11, 6-4ASUN

Northern Kentucky

8-14, 4-6ASUN

Northern Kentucky

North Florida

1/30/2014 11:24:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: North Florida Athletics

Final Boxscore (pdf)
Game Book

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Jalen Nesbitt dropped in a rebound putback with 1.5 seconds left to give the North Florida basketball team a 67-66 victory over Northern Kentucky on Thursday night at UNF Arena.

The win for the Ospreys (12-11, 6-4 Atlantic Sun) extended the squad's home win streak to three games and also marked the program's first ever victory over the Norse (8-14, 4-6). The victory also allows UNF to remain in third place in the league standings.

Nesbitt finished the game with just five points but did collect a team-best eight rebounds including the decisive one on the closing seconds. Freshman Dallas Moore led the way for UNF scoring 21 points while Charles McRoy and Chris Davenport both also reached double digits adding 15 and 11 points, respectively.

Todd Johnson paced the Norse with 18 points but missed a free throw allowing the Ospreys the opportunity to score the final possession. Tyler White added 17 points in the loss including scoring 12 in the first half.

"Our guys really earned this win," said UNF head coach Matthew Driscoll. "We dug down and really defended well in the second half and got the stops and made the plays we needed in the final minutes. Our guys competitiveness and reslience were again showcased tonight. Our focus is to go 1-0 everytime we play a game and tonight we were successful. We have to get regrouped and be ready for another challenge on Saturday."

The game was a constant back-and-forth battle featuring 10 ties and 15 lead changes. Neither team would lead by more than six points at any time during the game.

The Norse raced out to an early advantage grabbing a 9-4 lead just five minutes into the action. The Ospreys chipped away at the deficit and earned their first lead, 12-11, following a three-pointer by Moore at the 11:53 mark. NKU regained the lead and maintained a slight edge for most of the remainder of the half.

UNF scored seven straight points including a layup by Moore, a Nesbitt trey and a layup from Travis Wallace to build a 34-28 lead with just over two minutes left in the period, but NKU closed the half scoring the final nine points to carry a 37-34 lead into the halftime break. White broke a late tie after drilling a shot from beyond half court at the buzzer.

A more aggressive Osprey group rallied in the second half to knot the score at 43-43 on a dunk by Demarcus Daniels with 13:05 on the clock. Minutes later, UNF appeared to sieze the momentum and maintained a lead for a four minute stretch.

Johnson converted a driving layup with 2:17 left to put NKU up 62-61, but McRoy answered with a layup of his own to push UNF back in front. Jordan Jackson, the Norse leading scorer on the year at 14.8 ppg, hit a jumper for just his fourth point of the game followed by a White basket that put NKU in front, 66-63, with 39 seconds left.

A layup by Wallace trimmed the margin to one for UNF and then Johnson's missed free throw with 16 seconds remaining set up the thrilling end. Wallace collected the miss shot and got the ball to Moore, who used a solid screen from Daniels to get into the lane and put a shot up that rattled around the rim before being hauled down by Nesbitt. After collecting himself, Nesbitt lifted the game winner over the outstretched hands of several NKU players to secure the key victory for the Ospreys.

North Florida continues its current home stand on Saturday when they host Lipscomb at 7 p.m.