Final Boxscore (pdf)
Game Book
Postgame Quotes for UNF (pdf)

DAYTON, Ohio -- Looking to continue their historic season, the North Florida basketball team came up just short in their NCAA Tournament opener against Robert Morris on Wednesday night falling 81-77 in their First Four game at Dayton Arena.

The Ospreys, who finished the season with a program best 23-12 record, had their eight-game win streak halted as the Colonials (20-14) turned 19 UNF turnovers into 21 points in what proved to be the decisive factor in the game.

Junior Beau Beech matched a career best finishing with 28 pointts including 6-of-10 from the three-point line as the #BirdsOfTrey connected on nine three-pointers for the game while holding RMU to just four. Senior Jalen Nesbitt concluded his Osprey career with 14 points and team-leading nine rebounds while sophomore standout Dallas Moore also reached double figures scoring 13 points to go along with eight rebounds and five assists.

The Colonials saw a pair of players reached the 20-point mark as Lucky Jones led RMU with 21 followed by 20 for Rodney Pryor. Marquise Reed added 19 points including 15 in the second half as RMU outscored UNF 52-42 in the closing 20 minutes of play.

"God has truly honored me to be at the University of North Florida," said sixth year head coach Matthew Driscoll. "I'm honored that these young men represented our conference and most importantly our school and they represented them the right way and represented them well. We're obviously very disappointed with the final result tonight, but in life sometimes those things occur. The most important thing is what you do next and how you handle the next right thing. I thought be executed offensively well enough to win because with 77 points scored we usually win. The turnovers were what really hurt us especially since several of them were self-inflicted. I probably should have done a better job during their late run of using a timeout and maybe running a special play or two to try and get us back in the flow. Overall, I'm very proud of this team and all they accomplished for themselves and the University of North Florida."

The game was highlighted by runs. North Florida made the first push opening the game with an 8-2 spurt. The Colonials answered with a 15-4 run of their own to grab their first lead of the night. After trading baskets for several minutes, the Ospreys closed out the half on a 21-8 surge to hold a 35-29 advantage a the break.

UNF continued their strong play to start the second half using a 9-2 run to build their largest lead of the contest, 44-31, with 18:38 left in the contest. Robert Morris then started to rally outscoring the Ospreys 11-0 over the next five minutes of play as UNF missed six shots and committed five turnovers in the drought. The run trimmed the Osprey lead to just two, but a trey from Beech followed by baskets from Nesbitt and Moore pushed the margin back to eight points with just under 10 minutes remaining. The Colonials then mounted a 13-3 run which proved to be the deciding factor of the game, as RMU regained the lead and never gave it back.

The Ospreys knotted the score at 66 following a pair of Nesbitt free throws with 5:12 left but a three-pointer by Beech rattled out on the next possession and Robert Morris scored the next seven points to seize control of the contest. UNF refused to go away quietly pulling to within two, 78-76, with 10 ticks on the clock before RMU made enough free throws to secure the win and advance to a Friday match-up with South Region top seed Duke in Charlotte, N.C.

North Florida finished the season having claimed its first Atlantic Sun regular season and tournament titles along with earning the program's first ever national postseason tournament appearance. The Ospreys return four starters for the 2015-16 season along with six of the team's top seven scorers.