University of North Florida
-1312, 75 ASun
Stetson
-617, 47 ASun
Late Rally Propels #MBB to 54-52 Victory over Stetson
2/6/2014 9:19:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Final Boxscore (pdf)
Game Book
DeLAND, Fla. -- Using a 22-6 run in the final 10 minutes of play, the North Florida basketball team overcame a double-digit deficit to earn a hard fought 54-52 Atlantic Sun road victory over Stetson on Thursday night in the Edmunds Center.
The Ospreys (13-12, 7-5 ASun) shot just 37.5 percent from the floor for the game and committed 15 turnovers, but capitalized on a 41-27 advantage in rebounding in snapping a three-game road skid in league play. With the loss, Stetson slips to 6-17 overall and 4-7 in the conference.
The win also extended UNF's win steak over Stetson to five games and marked the 70th victory of the Matthew Driscoll era. It was the Osprey's eighth of 12 ASun games to be decided by six points or less and the third straight to go to the final possession.
Dallas Moore led the Ospreys scoring all of his team high 14 points in the second half. Beau Beech finished with nine points while Charles McRoy and Chris Davenport added eight points each. Davenport and Travis Wallace shared team rebounding honors with eight boards apiece. Moore also collected seven of the squad's 11 assists in the contest.
Brian Pegg finished with 14 points and eight rebounds to pace the Hatters, with Willie Green adding 13 points in the loss.
"Tonight was a great team effort to earn a win despite only shooting 37 percent from the floor," said UNF head coach Matthew Driscoll. "This was a big time road victory for us. We were able to make some key stops in the final minutes to close the gap and get the win. I thought we were aggressive going to the glass and that was another huge factor in the game."
Beech got the Ospreys going early scoring seven of the team's first 12 points as UNF held the early advantage. North Florida dominated the glass in the first half owning a 23-15 lead at the break including a 10-3 edge on the offensive end.
North Florida maintained a lead on the scoreboard until the Hatters' earned their first lead, 16-15, with 6:51 to play in the half. The squads traded the lead over the next several minutes before four straight points in the closing minutes allowed Stetson to carry a 26-23 lead into the break.
Stetson kept in the game during the opening stanza by taking advantage of eight turnovers for UNF. The Ospreys also struggled shooting the ball in the first period, going just 8-29 (28 percent) from the floor, while the Hatters connected at a 40 percent clip (10-25).
The Ospreys offensive woes continued early in the second half as Stetson used a 17-9 spurt in building their largest lead of the game, 43-32, with 11:08 left in the game. Moore got the UNF rally started with a layup followed by a McRoy free throw and layup. After a Hatter free throw, Demarcus Daniels' layup opened an 8-0 run that also included a trey by Moore and an old-fashioned three-point play by Jalen Nesbitt.
The two squads traded the lead before a six-point spurt capped by a three-pointer from the top of the key from Daniels with 1:06 left gave UNF a five point advantage, 54-49. Raymone Andrews converted three free fhrows to trim the margin to two. McRoy missed a pair of free throws with eight seconds on the clock setting up a frantic final possession for the Hatters that ended with a missed three-point try by Hunter Miller.
North Florida continues its current three-game road swing Saturday night at Florida Gulf Coast.
