Final Boxscore (pdf)
Game Book

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Junior Beau Beech's six second-half three-pointers sparked an offensive explosion by the North Florida basketball team in a 75-66 road win over Lipscomb on Saturday night at Allen Arena.

The Ospreys (13-9, 5-0 Atlantic Sun) scored 56 points in the second half and overcame a 10-point halftime deficit in handing the Bisons (10-10, 4-1) their first conference loss of the season. With the victory, UNF moved atop the Atlantic Sun standings alone and established a pair of program Division I records for consecutive wins (6) and best conference start.

Beech finished the game with a season best 27 points including seven three-pointers while also pulling down six boards and blocking a pair of shots. The final numbers were just one shy of his career high for both points and treys made in a game. After missing his first five attempts from long range, Beech hit his first three just before the first half buzzer than caught fire in the second half highlighted by a stretch of three consecutive treys as part of a tide-turning 20-3 run by the Ospreys.

Jalen Nesbitt made 13 of 16 free throws en route to 19 points while Trent Mackey also reached double figures finishing with 12 points. Leading scorer Dallas Moore had only five points but handed out seven assists, three rebounds and just two turnovers.

Josh Williams scored 21 points to pace the Bisons on offense.

North Florida struggled early in the game as Lipscomb raced out to a 21-7 lead midway through the opening period. The Bisons took advantage of an eight-minute scoreless stretch by the Ospreys to grab the momentum. UNF finished the first half shooting just 25 percent from the field but were able to keep things within reach by limiting LU to 37 percent. Lipscomb led 29-19 at the break thanks in part to a 12-2 advantage in second chance points.

"Lipscomb definitely played with more energy during the first half," said head coach Matthew Driscoll. "Fortunately, we kept battling defensively and didn't allow them to really get a large separation. At the break, we told the guys we needed to just hit the refresh button and come out aggressive in the second half. To their credit, the guys proved again to a tremendously resilient group and got rolling on the offensive end while continuing to defend solidly. Great to see Beau get some shots to fall and then a bunch of other guys did some good things as well making this a true team effort. To be able to respond with 56 points after scoring just 19 in the first half says a lot about the kind of players we have on our team."

Nesbitt got things started in the second half with a pair of free throws after getting fouled on a strong drive to the basket. Beech followed with a trey and a layup by Romelo Banks drew a quick timeout from Lipscomb. Dallas Moore got a layup to extend the Osprey run before the Bisons converted an old fashioned three-point play to slow the surge. Beech then proceeded to hit back-to-back-to-back treys, giving UNF its first lead of the night, 37-32.

The Ospreys would push the margin to seven before Lipscomb answered with a 14-4 surge to briefly regain the lead, 46-45, after a Denny Talbott three-pointer at the 10:59 mark. Beech dropped in another trey to put UNF back in front before Bisons knotted the score at 48 with just under 10 minutes remaining.

A 13-2 North Florida run over the next five minutes of play proved to be the difference as the Ospreys seized control of the competition. Lipscomb would make one final charge pulling within four, 68-64, with 40 seconds left, but UNF went 7-of-8 from the free throw line to secure the important road win.

The loss snapped a five game win streak for the Bisons and also marked the four straight loss to UNF in Allen Arena.

North Florida, who played four of its first five Atlantic Sun games on the road, now returns home for a three-game home stand beginning Thursday night againt Kennesaw State.