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University of North Florida Athletics

JT Escobar dribbles the basketball
Dave Donoher
89
North Florida UNF 4-7
102
Winner FIU FIUM 8-2
North Florida UNF
4-7
89
Final
102
FIU FIUM
8-2
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
North Florida UNF 49 40 89
FIU FIUM 50 52 102

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

Ospreys Come Up Short in Fast-Paced Contest at FIU


OPENING TIP
Score: North Florida 89, FIU 102
Records: North Florida (4-7) | FIU (8-2)
Location: Ocean Bank Convocation Center (Miami, Fla.)
The Short Story: Despite a career performance from J.T. Escobar and another double-double for Noah Horchler, the North Florida men's basketball team dropped a 102-89 decision in a fast paced contest at in-state rival FIU on Thursday night.

GAMEDAY MEDIA CENTER
Final Boxscore

NOTABLE NUMBERS
- JT Escobar matched his career highs in points (28) and rebounds (6) | Netted 20 points in the first half
- Noah Horchler finished with 16 points & 10 rebounds en route to his fifth double-double
- Wajid Aminu added 15 pts/9 rebs and Garrett Sams chipped in 11 for the Ospreys
- Ivan Gandia-Rosa dished out a season high 9 assists
- FIU had five players in double digits paced by 29 from Brian Beard, Jr., who also handed out 6 assists
- UNF's 89 point effort was the second highest total of the year, while the 102 points for FIU marks the most surrendered by the Ospreys this season
- Game featured 10 ties and 16 lead changes

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half Notes
- Panthers scored the first six points of the game as UNF battled a sluggish opening
- FIU would maintain a lead until just under 11 minutes left in the period when JT Escobar hit the first of his five treys on the night to even the score at 20
- Escobar followed on the next trip down the floor with another three, giving UNF its first lead | The back-to-back triples were part of 10 consecutive points for the junior sharpshooter
- The game remained a one possession margin for the remainder of the stanza with the lead seesawing thru 7 ties and 8 swaps of the lead
- Garrett Sams converted a pair of FTs in the final minute but a three-pointer for FIU with 18 seconds left sent the home squad into intermission with a slim 50-49 advantage 
  
Second Half Notes
- The Ospreys raced out of the break with 10 straight points, drawing a quick timeout from FIU
- The Panthers responded with a 17-4 surge to regain the lead at 67-65 at the 13:20 mark
- UNF and FIU traded turns with the lead over the next several minutes with the Ospreys earning the lead for the last time 76-75 (10:33)
- A 6-0 spurt for FIU widened the margin only to watch North Florida rally and close the gap to one (86-85) with 6:29 on the clock
- Wajid Aminu scored a lay-up with 3:38 remaining, making the score 92-89
- North Florida would be held scoreless the rest of the game as FIU closed by scoring the final 10 points | Ospreys were 0-4 with a turnover in the closing span

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
- North Florida was 6-33 from the 3-point arc with Escobar accounting for 5 of the 3PM | Rest of team went 1-20 from long distance
- Panthers earned a slight 41-39 advantage on the glass but held a decisive 26-10 lead for second chance points
- UNF went 15-20 from the FT line while FIU made 21 of 28
- Last time Ospreys surrendered triple digits was last year against USC Upstate in a 109-100 victory 
- FIU remains undefeated at home (5-0) and improve to 5-2 all-time against UNF

LAST WORD
"We continue to struggle being able to put a complete game together. It was another night where we played in spurts When people make runs on us, it is like the dam just opens up instead of us being able to plug the hole by getting key stops and rebounds. Give them credit for their aggressiveness on the glass to get second chance points which made the real difference. They also got some easy buckets in transition. Disappointing to see the poor shooting numbers from the three-point line when you take JT out of the equation, Our issue has been a combination of those things. Right now, I don't think our guys believe or have an understanding of what it takes to win these kind of games against teams similar to our league. We have to get back it and prepare for Charleston Southern on Saturday." -- Head coach Matthew Driscoll

NEXT UP
North Florida returns to Jacksonville for its final home game of 2018, a rematch with Charleston Southern on Saturday at 5 p.m. in UNF Arena.
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