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University of North Florida Athletics

Garrett Sams makes a layup against NJIT
ASUN Photos
80
Winner North Florida UNF 14-18
76
NJIT NJIT 14-16
Winner
North Florida UNF
14-18
80
Final
76
NJIT NJIT
14-16
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
North Florida UNF 39 41 80
NJIT NJIT 19 57 76

Next Game:

at FGCU (Semifinals)

3/1/2018 | 7:00 p.m.

ESPN3

Next Game

Full Schedule
Mar. 01 (Thu) / 7:00 p.m.
at FGCU (Semifinals)
History

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

Ospreys Nip NJIT to Advance to ASUN Tournament Semifinals


OPENING TIP
Score: #5 North Florida 80, #4 NJIT 76
Records: North Florida (14-18) | NJIT (14-16)
Location: NJIT Wellness & Event Center (Newark, N.J.)
The Short Story: The No.5-seed North Florida men's basketball team dominated the first half and then fended off a second half charge by No. 4 seed NJIT for an 80-76 victory in ASUN Tournament quarterfinal play on Monday night. Sophomore Garrett Sams scored a career high 28 points in leading the Ospreys to the hard fought victory.

GAMEDAY MEDIA CENTER
Final Boxscore PDF | Full Game Book

NOTABLE NUMBERS
- Garrett Sams netted a career best performance finishing with 28 points highlighted by a 12-for-13 performance from the FT line in the second half.
- Noah Horchler just missed another double-double, tallying 12 points and 9 rebounds along with 4 blocked shots
- Trip Day also reached double figures for UNF, scoring 12 points
- Ivan Gandia-Rosa added 8 pts, 6 rebs and 8 assists
- NJIT had five players in double figures led by 15 from San Antonio Brinson

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half Notes
- North Florida blitzed out to a quick 13-0 lead behind outstanding defense
- Sams sparked the early run with 8 points including back-to-back triples
- The Osprey "D" continued to dominate holding the Highlanders for over 9 minutes without a field goal during the half
- UNF would close the period with a 9-2 spurt, carrying a 20-point lead (39-19) into intermission
- NJIT shot just 17% from the field in the stanza and were limited to just 5 FGM
- North Florida held a 16-6 advantage in paint points and also scored 11 points off turnovers
  
Second Half Notes
- JT Escobar and Horchler each connected on a trey in the opening minutes of the second half as the Ospreys extended their lead to a game high 26 points (47-21) just two minutes into the action
- NJIT answered with 11 straight points to nearly cut their deficit in half over the next four minutes | The Highlanders benefited from several turnovers by UNF
- Day and Osborn Blount drilled consecutive three-pointers to push the Ospreys back in front by over 20 points, but NJIT responded with a 13-1 surge to trim the Osprey lead to single digits with just under 10 minutes left to play
- The game became a physical battle from that point with the teams combining to score 10 of 12 points from the FT line
- With UNF up by 13 (62-49), NJIT mounted a 9-0 rally that cut the margin to four and would eventually make it a one possession contest at 65-62 with 4 minutes remaining
- Gandia-Rosa and Day combined for 6 FTs to widen the Osprey lead back to 8 before a 9-1 run from the Highlanders made the score 75-74 with 19 seconds on the clock
- The Ospreys would convert 5 of 6 FT attempts over the closing seconds and limit NJIT to just one basket to secure the victory

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
- Ospreys have now won their ASUN Tournament opener in four consecutive seasons
- UNF avenged a 32-point loss at NJIT in January
- North Florida made 23 of 28 from the charity stripe in the 2nd half
- #BirdsofTrey finished with 10 3PM, marking their 20th game this year with double figure treys made
- The 19 points for NJIT in first half marked the lowest output in the opening half for a UNF opponent this season
- UNF improved to 6-2 all-time against NJIT
- Win snapped a four-game road losing skid for the Ospreys

LAST WORD
"I'm very, very proud of a lot of things. First one is it is our fourth straight tournament opening win, so it will be our fourth straight year in the semifinals. I'm very proud of this group especially with all the inexperience we have coming into a game like this and with what happened the last time we were here. We never mentioned that game because it was irrelevant since it was in the regular season and now we are in the postseason where the goal is simply to survive and advance. Give our guys credit for holding them to just 19 points in the first half, which was a season low for an opponent this year. We just defended, defended, defended, defended. However, give them credit because they didn't quit but that's what a good athlete is going to do. Nobody is gonna lay down and quit, that is something that you have to make them do and we weren't able to do that in the second half. It wasn't because of our defense though, it was of our turnovers that allowed them to score 21 points. That is what got them back into the game. Our guys deserve credit for knocking down a bunch of free throws down the stretch. I'm just really proud of our guys for having the resiliency to finish that game and get the win. We asked Garrett to be more aggressive shooting the three and tonight he was and that was huge for us. I guys didn't wilt and continued to battle the entire game." -- Head coach Matthew Driscoll

NEXT UP
North Florida remains on the road to face No. 1 seed FGCU on Thursday in Fort Myers, Fla.
 
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Players Mentioned

Osborn Blount

#10 Osborn Blount

G
5' 10"
Redshirt Senior
Educational Leadership
Garrett Sams

#11 Garrett Sams

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

#0 Noah Horchler

F
6' 8"
Sophomore
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
Garrett Sams

#11 Garrett Sams

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

#0 Noah Horchler

6' 8"
Sophomore
Exploratory
F
Ivan Gandia-Rosa

#21 Ivan Gandia-Rosa

6' 1"
Sophomore
Sport Management
G
Trip Day

#22 Trip Day

6' 7"
Freshman
Exploratory
F