University of North Florida
20-11, 12-2ASUN
Stetson
9-21, 3-11ASUN
ASUN CHAMPS: @OspreyMBB Top Stetson, 86-71 on Senior Night
3/1/2015 12:03:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Game Book
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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Dallas Moore scored 21 points on 9-for-14 shooting Saturday night as North Florida clinched the Atlantic Sun regular-season championship with an 86-71 win over Stetson.
Jalen Nesbitt contributed 14 points, Chris Davenport added 12 while pulling down nine rebounds, Trent Mackey had 11 points and Beau Beech had 10 for North Florida (20-11, 12-2), which shot 51.6 percent to close out the regular season with five straight wins. In addition, the Ospreys connected on 10 three-pointers, marking the 18th time this season they had made double-digit treys.
"I am so excited for this group of guys and what they accomplished this season," said head coach Matthew Driscoll. "Six years ago when we took over this program, we had a plan and tonight's game was a bit of reaping what we've sown. All season long this group has been resilient and focused on taking one game at a time. We told the guys a few weeks ago that they controlled their own destiny this season and they believed in each other and our vision and accomplished something very special. We will enjoy and celebrate this regular season title tonight, but turn our attention to our next goal tomorrow, which is to compete for the Atlantic Sun tournament title and the NCAA Tournament bid."
After a strong start for the Hatters and some back-and-forth play over the opening 10 minutes of play, North Florida eventually took the lead for good late in the first half with Mackey's 3-pointer, which made it 30-27, and carried a 42-33 advantage into the break. The Ospreys continued to pull away in the second half and built as large as a 26-point advantage, 71-45, with 9:14 left in the contest.
The Hatters (9-21, 3-11) would make a final surge using a 14-0 run to pull within 10 with five minutes remaining, but an 11-2 answer by the Ospreys over the next three minutes of play to secure the win.
Angel Rivera led Stetson with 22 points, Kentwan Smith added 15 and Divine Myles 14.
The Ospreys will have home court advantage in the upcoming Atlantic Sun Championship tournament which begins with a quarterfinal meeting with Stetson on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. UNF will be hosting a postseason game for the first time in program history.
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