Men's Basketball Drops Hard Fought Decision at Ball State

Tuesday, December 19

Muncie, Ind.

7 p.m.

University of North Florida

5-9

Ball State

7-4

North Florida

Ball State

Photo by: Todd Drexler

12/19/2017 10:01:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: North Florida Athletics

OPENING TIP
Score: North Florida 65, Ball State 79
Records: North Florida (5-9) | Ball State (7-4)
Location: Worthen Arena (Muncie, Ind.)
The Short Story: Despite double-double performances from Noah Horchler and Ivan Gandia-Rosa, the North Florida men's basketball team dropped a hard fought 79-65 decision Tuesday night at Ball State.

GAMEDAY MEDIA CENTER
Final Boxscore PDF | Full Game Book

NOTABLE NUMBERS
- Noah Horchler collected his fourth double-double of the season and third in a row with a career best 19 points and 13 rebounds
- Ivan Gandia-Rosa tallied his first double-double with 13 points a team season best 10 assists
- Osborn Blount and Trip Day each added 10 points off the bench for the Ospreys
- Ball State had four players in double figures led by 15 points (13 rebounds) by Trey Moses
- Ospreys connected on 8 three-pointers and limited BSU to just six

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half Notes
- Ball State got out of the blocks quickly scoring the first six points of the game
- UNF answered with the next 8 to grab their first lead | Ryan Burkhardt and Gandia-Rosa hit back-to-back treys as part of the spurt
- Game stayed close for several minutes
- Ospreys led 20-19 with 8:59 left in the period but the Cardinals seized the momentum after closing the half on a 24-10 surge highlighted by a 13-0 stretch
- North Florida was scoreless for 6 mins, going 0-9 from the floor and committing a pair of turnovers
- Trip Day recorded 6 of the squad's final 8 points to help cut the deficit to 43-30 at intermission

Second Half Notes
- BSU netted the first six points of the second stanza, pushing their lead to a game high 19 points and drawing a quick timeout from the Ospreys
- After trading baskets, UNF switched defenses sparking a 14-0 run as the Ospreys trimmed the deficit to just five points, 51-46
- JT Escobar hit a pair of three-pointers and Gandia-Rosa added one of his own to key the rally
- Ball State answered with the next nine points to widen the margin back to double digits with 10 minutes left to play
- From there the squads settled into a back-and-forth affair trading baskets to the final margin

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
- Ospreys matched a season low with just 6 turnovers on the night
- UNF held to single digit (8) 3PM for second straight game
- Both teams shot over 40% from the floor: UNF 40% | BSU 49%
- North Florida attempted just 3 FTs while Ball State was 7-12 from the charity stripe
- Teams combined for 43 assists (UNF 18 | BSU 25)
- Ospreys slipped to 1-8 on the road this season | Ball State remained undefeated at home 5-0

LAST WORD
"I'm very proud of our toughness and ability to fight back in the second half. Early on it was a nip and tuck game and then they were able to separate a little bit. To our guys credit, after they took a big lead in the second half, they just buckled down and got about 9 or 10 stops in a row that led to easier scoring opportunities for us. We executed and did the things we are really, really good at doing. Give Ball State credit for continuing to play as well. They didn't stop and kept coming at us. We made a couple critical errors that they took advantage of and were able to push their lead back up to 10 and it kind of stuck there. Our guys are right on the cusp but our room for error is very small, especially with Garrett (Sams) being out. We just have to keep getting better and get ready for LSU before the Christmas break." -- Head coach Matthew Driscoll

NEXT UP
North Florida wraps up its week-long three-game road trip Friday in Baton Rouge, La., versus LSU.