Final Boxscore (pdf)
Game BookJACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Playing their first home game in nearly a month, the North Florida basketball team reached triple digits for just the second time in 10 year of Division I play as the Ospreys dominated Trinity Baptist for a 106-60 victory on Tuesday night in UNF Arena.
The win snapped a four-game skid for UNF (8-9) and gave the team the most non-conference victories of the Division I era. The 46-point margin of victory over the Eagles (8-7) also marked the largest win margin as a Division I program and the largest in the six-year tenure of head coach
Matthew Driscoll.
"It was exciting to be back home to play a game," said Driscoll. "I'm very proud and honored for this team to have accomplished the feat of winning the most non-conference games as a Division I program. These guys have battled and competed all year and shown true character. What I love most about this group is they aren't satisfied and they are focused on starting league play this weekend. Obviously winning can be the best medicine so hopefully we can build on some of the things we did well tonight. I felt like we did a great job of sharing the ball and also of getting guys shots in their comfort areas. I was a little disappointed in the number of turnovers we had so that is something we need to figure out. It was nice to see all our guys get to make some contributions."
The Ospreys dominated the game from the start racing out to a double-digit advantage, 12-2, just three minutes into the contest. UNF made its first 12 shots of the game and led by 20 with 10 minutes to play in the opening half. North Florida finished the first period shooting 75 percent (21-28) from the floor and making 9 of 14 three-point attempts (64 percent) en route to building a 61-33 lead.
Romelo Banks finished with a career-best 26 points, hitting 9 of 11 shots from the floor along with going 8-10 from the free throw line. In addition, Banks shared team honors with six rebounds and also swatted three shots.
Dallas Moore added 19 points, including four treys, with both
Demarcus Daniels and
Aaron Bodager chipping in 12 points.
Chris Davenport scored 11 points to round out the group of double figure performers. Davenport also led the team in assists handing out a career-best eight in pacing the Ospreys to a program Division I record of 30 assists for the game. Daniels collected a career best tying five blocked shots as UNF recorded an all-time program high 11 blocks in the game.
Other records set on Tuesday night included an all-time program best field goal percentage of 66.7 along with a Division I benchmark for three-pointers made with 16.
Tyrell Johnson finished with 19 pointns and four rebounds to lead the Eagles.
North Florida will now begin Atlantic Sun Conference play, visiting crosstown rival Jacksonville on Saturday at 3 p.m. The game is the first of the two River City Rumble match-ups for the season.
