Final Boxscore (pdf)

KENNESAW, Ga. – The North Florida basketball team dropped its third straight game Thursday night at Kennesaw State falling, 101-91, at the KSU Convocation Center.

For the Ospreys (18-9, 7-3 ASun), the loss snapped a 13-game win streak against the Owls (8-18, 4-6) and a six-game win streak at Kennesaw.

Demarcus Daniels finished with 21 points to lead a group of five UNF players in double-digits. Trent Mackey connected on six three-pointers to score 18 points followed by 17 from Beau Beech, 15 for Dallas Moore and 14 for Chris Davenport.  Davenport led the squad with seven rebounds while Moore dished out seven assists.

The Owls saw three players top the 20-point mark led by 25 for Kendrick Ray, 22 by Yonel Brown and 20 for Aubrey Williams.

Both teams shot over 50 percent from the floor for the game with UNF finishing at 56 percent and KSU shooting  54 percent. The Ospreys, who lead the nation in three-pointers, hit 12 on the night marking their 23rd game of the season with double digit treys but it wasn't enough. UNF was hurt by 17 turnovers in the game including 12 in the second half that resulted in 16 points for KSU.

"When you score 91 points most of the time you feel like you should have won that game," said UNF head coach Matthew Driscoll. "We had great stats but we just didn't make the plays we needed to make in order to win the game. We had stretches in both halves where we were locked in defensively but we didn't sustain those and I'm not sure why. Give Kennesaw State credit for continuing to battle and making plays they needed to make to get the win. We will continue to prepare and work hard to figure things out."

North Florida got out early using a 15-0 run highlighted by baskets from four different players to build a 17-4 lead. UNF would maintain a double-figure advantage until the Owls answered with a 20-5 spurt to grab the lead, 34-29. The Ospreys responded and eventually knotted the score but KSU closed the half on a 7-2 run for a 48-43 lead at the intermission.

The Ospreys converted on 8 of their first 10 shots to start the second half. The hot shooting erased the deficit and allowed UNF to build a seven-point lead, 67-60, with 14 minutes left in the game.  Eight straight points for KSU closed the gap and the two squads stayed within three points of each other for the next several minutes.

With two minutes remaining, Brown hit a three that put the Owls up by five, 88-83, and then KSU connected on 11 free throws in the closing minutes to secure their first win over UNF in seven seasons.

North Florida will conclude its current three-game road stretch Saturday at 4 p.m. (CT) against Lipscomb, a 93-92 victor over Jacksonville on Thursday night.