OPENING TIP
Score: North Florida 87, FGCU 66
Records: North Florida (8-10, 2-1 ASUN) | FGCU (5-13, 0-3 ASUN)
Location: UNF Arena (Jacksonville, Fla.)
The Short Story: North Florida got 73 points from its starters and seized control early in second half en route to a dominating 87-66 victory versus in-state rival FGCU on Saturday night in UNF Arena. Noah Horchler and Wajid Aminu both netted double-doubles in the Osprey victory.

GAMEDAY MEDIA CENTER
Final Boxscore

NOTABLE NUMBERS
- Noah Horchler tallied his ASUN leading 9th double-double, finishing with 17 points/10 rebounds along with four blocks and three assists
- Wajid Aminu collected his third double-double of the season with 16 points/12 rebounds as well as four blocks
- JT Escobar connected on 4 three-pointers as part of his 15 point effort while Ivan Gandia-Rosa also had 15 points and handed out 7 assists
- Garrett Sams also reached double digits, scoring all his 10 points in the second half
- Christian Carlyle, a Jacksonville native, scored 21 points in leading a pair of Eagles to double figures
- Ospreys made a season-best 15 treys and outrebounded FGCU, 48-33
- North Florida notched 23 assists and forced 21 turnovers by the Eagles despite committing 23 turnovers of their own

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half Notes
- The opening half of the first period featured exchange of scoring runs with North Florida maintaining a slight edge until FGCU earned a lead, 18-16, at the 10:48 mark
- Ospreys answered with back-to-back treys from Ivan Gandia-Rosa and JT Escobar to regain a lead | The Eagles moved back in front with six consecutive points
- After trading baskets for the next several possessions, FGCU took their final lead of the night, 29-27, with 4:46 left to play
- Freshman Carter Hendricksen sparked a 12-0 surge for the Ospreys, hitting a three-pointer before handing out a pair of assists with a no-look pass to Wajid Aminu for a dunk followed by a kick out pass to Escobar for a trey | Gandia-Rosa and Aminu closed the run with layups
- FGCU trimmed the double-digit deficit by scoring the final five points, sending UNF into the break with a 39-34 lead
  
Second Half Notes
- The Eagles kept things close over the first five minutes out of intermission
- North Florida seized control of the game over the next seven minutes thanks to a 20-4 run that featured spurts of 11-0 and 9-0 | After the surge, UNF owned a 69-49 lead with 8 minutes showing on the clock
- Ospreys made five consecutive three-pointers during the scoring flurry
- FGCU attempted a charge in the closing minutes, cutting the deficit to 14 (78-64) with 3:42 remaining
- UNF closed the game with a 9-2 run en route to the squad's second 20+ point victory in ASUN play this season

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
- Win snapped an 8-game losing skid against FGCU for the Ospreys
- North Florida improved to 6-0 at home this season and extended current home win streak to nine games
- UNF had 8 of 10 players hit a three-pointer in the contest | Fourth straight game with double digit 3PM
- Ospreys topped 20-assist mark for second time in the last three games
- FGCU lost their third straight road contest and fell to 0-3 in ASUN play
- North Florida defense forced 20+ turnovers for second game in a row and third in the last four
- The margin of victory (+21) marked the largest for UNF in the series with the Eagles
- Wajid Aminu became the 11th player in UNF history with 500 career rebounds
- Ivan Gandia-Rosa became the 6th player in UNF history with 300 career assists

LAST WORD
"Super, super proud of the guys. We've said all along that we needed to be able to rebound and defend at a high level in order to be successful. When you play against a talented team in the upper level of our league like FGCU, you have to be able to defend and rebound and we did both of those things. We were definitely not perfect but out-rebounding somebody by 15 and recording numerous defensive stops especially in the second half was phenomenal. Wajid and Noah getting double-doubles with four blocks each was huge. I thought Ezekiel's (Balogun) energy off the bench was a difference maker. Carter (Hendricksen) gave us a lift after Garrett Sams picked up his third foul in the first half. We elevated our game and took it to another level. When we share the sugar, getting 23 assists on 31 baskets, we are a tough group. Everybody panics about the turnovers, as do I at times, but our guys sometimes try to be such great teammates that leads to some tough passes. Proud of how the guys were able to play through some mistakes and continue to make the next right decision." -- Head coach Matthew Driscoll

NEXT UP
North Florida hits the road for the for back-to-back road clashes beginning Wednesday at in-state foe Stetson.