Final Boxscore (pdf)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – In a tale of two halves, the North Florida basketball team's sluggish second half proved costly as Lipscomb outlasted the Ospreys, 94-87, Saturday night at Allen Arena.

Despite suffering a fourth consecutive defeat, UNF remained tied atop the Atlantic Sun Conference standings owning a 7-4 league mark and 18-10 overall record. For the Bisons (10-18, 6-5), the win was just the second in their last 12 meetings with the Ospreys.

Five different players netted double figures for North Florida led by 27 by Dallas Moore, who also handed out six assists. Beau Beech finished with a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds while Trent Mackey added 18 along with a season best 15 for Aaron Bodager and 13 by Chris Davenport.

Nathan Moran led the Bisons with 24 points including six treys and George Brammeier (12 pts, 10 rebs) and Garrison Mathews (12 pts, 10 rebs) both chipped in double-double efforts.

For the second straight game, UNF raced out to an early lead outscoring LU 21-8 through the first six minutes of play. Lipscomb answered with a 15-4 surge of their own to pull within two before a 15-6 response by the Ospreys pushed the lead back to double digits.

The Ospreys made eight three-pointers and shot 56 percent from the floor in the first half en route to a 48-38 intermission lead. 

UNF's offense cooled early in the second half as Lipscomb erased the Osprey lead with a 14-4 surge to start the period.  Minutes later, the Bisons grabbed their first lead of the night, 60-58, with 11 minutes left in the game.

The game would go back and forth for several minutes until second-chance opportunities hindered the Osprey's late surge. Lipscomb's final 12 points came from the free throw line as they were able to fend off a final charge by UNF. The Ospreys shot just 33 percent from the floor in the second half making 14 of 42 attempts including going 5 of 18 from long distance. Lipscomb also benefitted from 14 second chance points during the half as both Davenport and Demarcus Daniels fouled out for UNF.

"This is extremely disappointing for me and the guys," said head coach Matthew Driscoll. "The team continues to prepare and compete but we've just not been able to make the plays we need to make to get the win. We can't allow that many points and expect to get a win. Have to give Lipscomb credit for playing relentless and making some big plays especially in the second half. We had some opportunities too but had some good shots not fall. We are looking forward to playing at home the next two games and understand that the final two weeks of the season in the conference are setting up to be really competitive."

North Florida returns home following their three game road stretch and will host conference co-leader NJIT on Thursday at UNF Arena.