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Ivan Gandia-Rosa dribbles past a defender
Todd Drexler
100
USC Upstate UPST 7-22 | 3-10 ASUN
109
Winner North Florida UNF 12-17 | 6-6 ASUN
USC Upstate UPST
7-22 | 3-10 ASUN
100
Final
109
North Florida UNF
12-17 | 6-6 ASUN
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
USC Upstate UPST 42 58 100
North Florida UNF 47 62 109

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

Ospreys Overcome Early Deficit for 109-100 Win Over USC Upstate


OPENING TIP
Score: North Florida 109, USC Upstate 100
Records: North Florida (12-17, 6-6 ASUN) | USC Upstate (7-22, 3-10 ASUN)
Location: UNF Arena (Jacksonville, Fla.)
The Short Story: The North Florida men's basketball team overcame a 14-point first half deficit and scored 62 second half points en route to a 109-100 victory over USC Upstate on Thursday night in UNF Arena. Wajid Aminu finished with a carer best 29 points while Ivan Gandia-Rosa handed out a school record 18 assists as the Ospreys earned the season sweep of the Spartans.

GAMEDAY MEDIA CENTER
Final Boxscore PDF | Full Game Book

NOTABLE NUMBERS
- Wajid Aminu finished with a career best 29 points going 12-for-15 from the floor in 26 minutes of action
- Ivan Gandia-Rosa collected a school record with 18 assists while adding 15 pts (3 3PM) for his fourth double-double of the season
- Noah Horchler posted his ASUN leading 12th double-double (8th in ASUN play) after tallying 16 points/11 rebounds
- Osborn Blount (13), Garrett Sams (12) and Trip Day (10) each reached double figures for UNF
- Deion Holmes and Ramel Thompkins both reached 20+ point mark for Upstate, scoring 27 and 20, respectively
- Teams combined for 26 treys (14 by Upstate | 12 by UNF)

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half Notes
- The Spartans raced out to the early 12-4 lead behind hot shooting from long range as they hit 4 of their first 5 three-point attempts
- The score remained tight for several more minutes before Upstate scored nine straight points to build a 34-20 lead with 11 minutes left in the first half
- North Florida made a defensive switch and turned the tables on the Spartans | UNF went on a 13-0 run that included holding USC Upstate scoreless for over six minutes
- The Ospreys continued to build the momentum and earned their first lead of the night, 38-35, on a Ryan Burkhardt trey with 3:30 on the clock
- UNF closed the half with a 9-4 spurt and held a 47-42 advantage at the break
- Wajid Aminu netted 19 points in the opening stanza and helped the Ospreys to a 30-12 margin for points in the paint
- After trailing 34-20, Ospreys answered with a 27-8 surge  

Second Half Notes
- UNF extended its lead to double figures early in the second half, when Aminu slammed home a basket that put the Ospreys in front 56-44
- The two squads settled in a fast-past scoring contest but the Spartans would never get closer than five points the rest of the way
- North Florida converted 16 of 19 free throws in the second half including several in the closing minutes to secure the victory
- The Ospreys shot 59.4% from the field in the final period, while Upstate was just as efficient, shooting at a 58.5% clip
- The Spartans edged UNF, 26-22, for paint points in the half

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
- Ospreys earned the season sweep of the Spartans in the last scheduled meeting between the squads as Upstate is departing the ASUN following the season
- UNF reached the 100-point mark for the sixth time this year | Ospreys surrendered 100+ points for the fifth time
- Gandia-Rosa's 18 assists marked the most in an ASUN game since February of 2007 (ETSU's Cortney Pigram had 18 on Feb. 24)
- Horchler upped his season rebounding total to 254, setting a new UNF Division I single season record (just 10 shy of the school's all-time mark)
- Marked UNF's largest deficit overcome in a victory this year
- #BirdsofTrey reached double figure treys (12) for the 16th time this year
- UNF matched a season low with just 6 turnovers for the game
- Ospreys won the rebounding battle, 35-31

LAST WORD
"The one thing when you come off a stretch like we just off of with two one-possession games in the final minute, fighting for seeding position in this league on the road, you get very concerned as a coach. We asked the guys this week to look at themselves honestly in the mirror and really come up with an estimation of who they are and what their value is and how that fits into what we want to do. It's a fact that our body has many parts and if all the parts aren't doing their specific jobs than the body doesn't function. That's sort of the idea that we stressed with the team before the game. We need to function as one body and when we do, we are a special group. There were some glimpses at the beginning of the game and the end of the game where they made some shots and it is what it is. The middle part was pretty good. They had 34 points with about 10 minutes to play and I told the guys that they were on a 70-point pace for the half, but the good news is we are only down 14. We could either decide to get stops or not. I think we got stops in 16 of the next 20 possessions and when we do that we can really get flowing. We are so talented on the offensive end. Congratulations to Ivan for setting the single game record with 18 assists and even more impressive with no turnovers. Congrats to Noah as well for becoming the Division I all-time single season leading rebounder. Wajid was also back to being Wajid and looks like his ankle is really healed. I thought Ryan Burkhardt, Emmanuel Lambright and Osborn Blount made some really big plays in the second half coming off the bench for us. Trip Day is just Trip Day, he can just really score the ball and he is a gifted player. We outrebounded them and also didn't turn it over which are things we've been talking about. Give these guys all the credit for understanding and functioning as one body." -- Head coach Matthew Driscoll

NEXT UP
North Florida wraps up the home portion of the regular season on Saturday against NJIT. The Osprey senior class of Osborn Blount and Chase Driscoll will be recognized during a pregame ceremony.


 
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Players Mentioned

Osborn Blount

#10 Osborn Blount

G
5' 10"
Redshirt Senior
Educational Leadership
Chase Driscoll

#55 Chase Driscoll

G
5' 8"
Senior
Interdisciplinary Studies
Garrett Sams

#11 Garrett Sams

G/F
6' 6"
Sophomore
Business Management
Noah Horchler

#0 Noah Horchler

F
6' 8"
Sophomore
Exploratory
Emmanuel Lambright

#1 Emmanuel Lambright

G/F
6' 6"
Freshman
Psychology
Ryan Burkhardt

#12 Ryan Burkhardt

G
6' 4"
Freshman
Exploratory
Ivan Gandia-Rosa

#21 Ivan Gandia-Rosa

G
6' 1"
Sophomore
Sport Management
Trip Day

#22 Trip Day

F
6' 7"
Freshman
Exploratory

Players Mentioned

Osborn Blount

#10 Osborn Blount

5' 10"
Redshirt Senior
Educational Leadership
G
Chase Driscoll

#55 Chase Driscoll

5' 8"
Senior
Interdisciplinary Studies
G
Garrett Sams

#11 Garrett Sams

6' 6"
Sophomore
Business Management
G/F
Noah Horchler

#0 Noah Horchler

6' 8"
Sophomore
Exploratory
F
Emmanuel Lambright

#1 Emmanuel Lambright

6' 6"
Freshman
Psychology
G/F
Ryan Burkhardt

#12 Ryan Burkhardt

6' 4"
Freshman
Exploratory
G
Ivan Gandia-Rosa

#21 Ivan Gandia-Rosa

6' 1"
Sophomore
Sport Management
G
Trip Day

#22 Trip Day

6' 7"
Freshman
Exploratory
F