Final Boxscore (pdf)

DeLAND, Fla. – Powered by a 59-point second half performance, the North Florida basketball team opened Atlantic Sun Conference play Wednesday night with a 97-79 road victory over Stetson at the Edmunds Center.

The Ospreys (12-6, 1-0) shot a blistering 64 percent from the floor over the final 20 minutes and broke things open late behind a 10-0 run that covered just 55 seconds. The run pushed the UNF lead from 7 to 17 with just over three minutes remaining and North Florida closed out their ninth consecutive victory over the Hatters (6-10, 0-1).

Junior Dallas Moore paced a potent Osprey offense finishing with 30 points on a season best 14 field goals. Moore also handed out eight of the squads 23 assists on the night. Fellow junior Chris Davenport nearly notched a triple-double after tallying 15 points, 16 boards, nine assists and three blocked shots.

Demarcus Daniels went 10 for 12 from the floor en route to 22 points and nine rebounds and Trent Mackey chipped in 12 points including back-to-back treys at the end of the decisive run.

"Tonight was a true team effort," said head coach Matthew Driscoll. "It is always great to get conference play started with a win and I was really proud of the fight the guys showed tonight after a slow start. I thought Demarcus was definitely the difference maker for us with his poise and leadership. Aaron Bodager gave us a lift in the first half making some shots when others weren't hitting. We still have some work to do on guarding the three-point line but we got some key stops tonight. We are looking forward to coming home to play on Saturday."

UNF started sluggishly as Stetson opened up a 14-3 lead in the first five minutes of play. The Ospreys made just one of their first 11 shots while the Hatters hit their first four.

North Florida slowly began chipping away the squad finally found its shooting touch making 10 of its next 13 tries to grab their first lead of the contest, 26-25, on a Bodager three with 7 minutes left in the half. Moore sparked the run with a series of driving layups.

UNF would extend its advantage to 31-25 before Stetson closed with a flurry. The Ospreys held a slim 38-37 edge at the half.

The Ospreys widened the margin to double digits early in the second half and maintained a lead from between four to eight points for most of the period. The Hatters pulled within three, 70-67, with 7:05 left  but UNF got buckets from Daniels and Moore to halt the charge.

Minutes later with UNF owning a 79-72 lead, Davenport drove the lane and slammed home a monster dunk followed by a Daniels layup and transition three-pointer by Mackey. Beau Beech then stole the inbounds pass for the Ospreys and found Mackey for another trey at the top of the key essentially closing out the game.

North Florida, who just completed a four-game road stretch, next opens the home portion of their Atlantic Sun schedule Saturday against crosstown rival Jacksonville at 7 p.m. in UNF Arena.