Final Boxscore (pdf)
Game Book

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- In an early season battle between the preseason favorites in the Atlantic Sun Conference, the North Florida men's basketball team rallied from a double-digit first half deficit with a strong second half performance to earn an 80-64 victory over Florida Gulf Coast on Wednesday night in UNF Arena.

The Ospreys (10-9, 2-0 ASun) shot 50 percent from the floor for the game and drilled 12 three-pointers against the Eagles (11-7, 1-1 ASun), who entered the game as the conference's top three-point defensive squad. The win marked the third straight for UNF and ended a five-game skid against FGCU. A crowd of 3,189 attended the game marking the largest non-Jacksonville game crowd in program history.

Sophomore Dallas Moore sparked the Osprey offensive attack matching a career best with 27 points while handing out a personal high nine assists with just one turnover. Moore finished with 16 points in the decisive second half rally, helping UNF outscore FGCU, 41-27. For the third consecutive game, junior Demarcus Daniels reached double digits chipping in 15 points in the win to go along with a team leading eight rebounds. Fellow junior Trent Mackey connected on four treys to account for his 12-point effort.

Brett Comer led FGCU with 21 points while backcourt mate Bernard Thompson finished with 15. UNF held the Eagles to just 37 percent shooting from the floor including a 3-for-15 performance from long distance. FGCU also finished with only six assists, with Comer having entered the game with an average of over seven per game.
 
"I'm really proud of our guys and the kind of team we are becoming," said head coach Matthew Driscoll. "The thing that really impresses me about our guys is their fight and commitment to being good. I thought we again demonstrated how resilient we are as a group after falling behind early and battling some adversity. We were able to make plays on both ends and I felt like our zone really allowed us to control the tempo and take advantage of the things that we do well. It was great to get another home win and I can't say enough of how awesome the crowd was tonight."

After the game started as a back-and-forth affair, Florida Gulf Coast built an 11-point lead, 25-14, following a 10-0 run with 8:37 left in the first half. The Eagles seemed to have momentum on their side as the Ospreys lost the services of the Atlantic Sun's top rebounder, Chris Davenport, after he picked up two technicals. However, the loss rallied North Florida as the squad slowly cut into the Eagle lead.

A Mackey trey with 1:14 left in the half earned the Ospreys a tie at 37, while Romelo Banks sank a pair of free throws with 22 ticks remaining to send UNF into the halftime break with their first lead of the game, 39-37.

Florida Gulf Coast started the second half quickly retaking the lead, 46-43, just over three minutes into the action. The Ospreys answered with a 13-0 run to regain a lead they would not relinquish. A layup and three-pointer from Beech got the run started followed by a trey by Moore. After Jalen Nesbitt converted a driving layup and a three-pointer, UNF had moved in front, 56-46, with 13:33 on the clock.

FGCU would close the margin to six, 56-50, over the next two minutes before eight straight points by the Ospreys pushed the lead to double-digits, where it remained for the final 11 minutes of the contest.

North Florida next visits in-state foe Stetson on Saturday afternoon for the first of three consecutive road conference games. The Ospreys and Hatters are slated to tipoff at 1 p.m. on ESPN3.