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University of North Florida Athletics

Coach Driscoll stands in huddle with game starters against Southern Miss in Cancun
64
Winner NORTH FLORIDA UNF 2-3
48
SOUTHERN MISS USM 3-1
Winner
NORTH FLORIDA UNF
2-3
64
Final
48
SOUTHERN MISS USM
3-1
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
NORTH FLORIDA UNF 44 20 64
SOUTHERN MISS USM 23 25 48

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vs. Jacksonville State

11/21/2018 | 3:00 p.m.

CBS Digital

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Nov. 21 (Wed) / 3:00 p.m.
vs. Jacksonville State
History

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | North Florida Athletics

Ospreys Top Southern Miss, Advance to 3rd Cancun Challenge Title Game


OPENING TIP
Score: North Florida 64, Southern Miss 48
Records: North Florida (2-3) | Southern Miss (3-1)
Location: Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya (Cancun, Mexico)
The Short Story: A dominating defensive effort and double-doubles from Noah Horchler and Garrett Sams propelled the North Florida men's basketball team into the championship game of the Cancun Challenge Mayan Division following a 64-48 victory versus Southern Miss on Tuesday.

GAMEDAY MEDIA CENTER
Final Boxscore

NOTABLE NUMBERS
- Junior Garrett Sams finished with a career best 12 rebounds to go along with his fourth 16-point effort of the season in leading UNF to the victory
- Fellow junior Noah Horchler collected his team-leading third double-double of the year, finishing with 13 points and a career best matching 16 boards
- Junior JT Escobar connected on 4 treys en route to a season best 14-point output
- Tim Rowe paced with 12 points while Cortez Edwards chipped in 11 in the loss
- UNF outrebounded USM, 51-35, and held the Eagles to just 32% shooting from the floor including a 2-19 performance on 3-pointers (11%)
- North Florida committed 18 turnovers in the game with 12 coming in a sluggish second half

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half Notes
- North Florida got off to a hot start scoring the game's first 8 points and never looked back as USM got as close as 4 the entire game
- Midway through the opening stanza, UNF got back-to-back-to-back treys to build a 26-11 advantage and draw a timeout from the Eagles | Escobar started and ended the spurt with Horchler drilling one in the middle
- The Ospreys maintained the momentum and finished the half on an 8-0 run to hold a 44-23 lead at intermission
- Escobar had 11 points at the break, while Horchler had 7 pts/7 rebs and Sams tallied 9 pts/7 rebs before the break

Second Half Notes
- UNF started the second half sluggishly, watching Southern Miss score the first 13 points of the period and cut the margin to 8 at 44-36 with just over 13 minutes left to play
- Horchler snapped the scoring drought for the Ospreys hitting back-to-back buckets to push the lead back to double digits
- USM pulled within 7 points just minutes later but Escobar drained his fourth triple of the night to ignite a 10-0 spurt by the Ospreys to put the game out of reach
- North Florida held the Eagles to just seven points over the final 10 minutes of play

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
- North Florida improved to 2-0 all-time against USM with the win
- In their third appearance at the Cancun Challenge, the Ospreys will play for their third Mayan Division title | UNF is 6-5 overall in the event and 5-0 in games played in Cancun
- Along with his double figure points/rebounds, Horchler also finished with 4 blocks and two assists
- Horchler's rebounding total marked the third most in a game in UNF Division I Era history
- As a team, UNF swatted 8 shots and recorded 8 steals
- Already the only repeat winner of the Cancun Challenge, North Florida faces Jacksonville State on Wednesday in hopes of becoming the first three time champion and also earn the 7th in-season tournament title in program history

LAST WORD
"When you defend and understand the importance of rebounding, it allows you to just play freely on the other end of the floor. We were far from perfect today we defended and rebounded and that allowed us to do what we needed to do, how we needed to do it. Guys are going to miss shots, but we can't miss a defensive assignment. Guys are going to make a bad pass, but we can't miss a defensive rotation. Guys may run the wrong play, but they have to be there to block somebody out and get that key rebound. When you are doing those things defensively and your being solid, then on the offensive end we just have to figure it out and keep working. When you hold somebody to 48 points, there is a great chance you are going to get that victory. Our guys fought and secured, and finally after the first four or five minutes of the second half, they decided to play to win instead of playing not to lose. That is a huge difference" -- Head coach Matthew Driscoll

NEXT UP
North Florida battles Jacksonville State in the Mayan Division championship game at 3 p.m. The game will be streamed on CBS Digital.
 
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Players Mentioned

Noah Horchler

#0 Noah Horchler

F
6' 8"
Junior
Criminal Justice
Garrett Sams

#11 Garrett Sams

G/F
6' 7"
Junior
Sport Management

Players Mentioned

Noah Horchler

#0 Noah Horchler

6' 8"
Junior
Criminal Justice
F
Garrett Sams

#11 Garrett Sams

6' 7"
Junior
Sport Management
G/F