Final Boxscore (pdf)
Game Book

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- The North Florida basketball team was unable to overcome a sluggish start Saturday afternoon in a tough 66-49 loss to Northern Iowa at the McLeod Center.

The Ospreys (1-3) did not score for the first seven and half minutes of the game, while UNI (4-0) opened the game hot from long distance hitting five three-pointers en route to an early 18-0 advantage. Demarcus Daniels ended the Opsrey drought at the 12:38 mark converting an old-fashioned three-point play for the team's first points.

UNF would make a charge in the second half pulling within seven points, 40-33, before a 19-4 spurt midway through the second half allowed the Panthers to seize control of the contest.

"Our guys continue to be resilient and battle the entire game," said head coach Matthew Driscoll. "Unfortunately, we just had a few stretches where we struggled to complete plays and that was the difference. They made some big shots early in the game, but we kept playing and responded ourselves in the second half. Just unable to sustain the effort for the remainder of the game. Now we need to get refocused and rested before having the opportunity to play for a tournament championship in Cancun."

After falling behind early, UNF used a 12-3 run of their own to trim the first half deficit to 21-12 with just over eight minutes left in the period. UNI answered with more solid outside shooting making three more treys in the final six minutes to hold a 33-18 lead at halftime. For the Panthers, eight of their 11 first half baskets came from long distance as they shot 57 percent from the three-point line.

North Florida charged out of the gates in the second half scoring eight of the first 10 points followed minutes later by a 7-2 surge that closed the margin to seven with 13:19 left to play. Senior Jalen Nesbitt was the catalyst in the Osprey rally scoring 10 of his game high 15 points during the run. UNF had a chance to close the gap even more on their next possession but a veteran UNI squad settled things down scoring 10 consecutive points in regaining the momentum.

The squads would trade baskets over the final five minutes of play as the Panthers kept their record unblemished.

Nesbitt was UNF's top scorer finishing with a season-best 15 points while also collecting four steals and a pair of assists. Daniels joined him in double digits adding 10 points. Pacing the Panthers was Missouri Valley Conference preseason Player of the Year Seth Tuttle with 19 points on a perfect shooting performance going 7-7 from the field and 4-4 at the free throw line.

The Ospreys defense limited UNI to just 3 of 11 shooting from long distance in the second half.

North Florida continues play in the Cancun Challenge on Tuesday afternoon when the Ospreys battle Liberty in the first of two games at the Hard Rock Riviera Maya in Cancun, Mexico.