OPENING TIP
Score: North Florida 87, Stetson 77
Records: North Florida (9-10, 3-1 ASUN) | Stetson (4-14, 0-3 ASUN)
Location: Edmunds Center (DeLand, Fla.)
The Short Story: After a closely contested first half, North Florida broke the game open behind strong shooting and rebounding in the second half to earn a hard fought ASUN road victory at Stetson, 87-77, on Wednesday night. For the third consecutive game, all five UNF starters posted double-figure points.

GAMEDAY MEDIA CENTER
Final Boxscore

NOTABLE NUMBERS
- Garrett Sams paced the Ospreys with 18 points including 4 three-pointers
- Ivan Gandia-Rosa chipped in 15 points along with a season-best matching 9 assists
- Wajid Aminu added 14 points and 7 rebounds while Noah Horchler and JT Escobar both finished with 11 points
- Leo Goodman topped a quartet of Hatters in double digits with 17 points
- Ospreys connected on 13 treys and handed out 19 assists
- North Florida posted a 41-35 advantage in rebounding

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half Notes
- The opening period was a back-and-forth affair highlighted by five ties and nine lead changes
- After scoring a quick five points, UNF watched the Hatters respond with six straight to regain the lead
- Stetson would maintain a lead for much of the half, building a margin as large as 5 points a couple times
- Ivan Gandia-Rosa nailed a three late in the frame that gave UNF a slim advantage and then closed the half with a pair of free throws that sent Ospreys into intermission with a 42-41 lead
  
Second Half Notes
- Ospreys swooped out the break scoring the first five points on a thunderous dunk by Wajid Aminu and a trey from Garrett Sams
- UNF slowly began to widen the margin and minutes later used a 12-4 run to open up a double-digit gap
- The spurt included five points from Trip Day and was capped by JT Escobar three-pointer and free throw for Carter Hendricksen
- Stetson rallied later in the half, using a 12-5 spurt sparked with a 6-0 beginning to close the deficit to 6 (62-56) with 9:23 left
- The Hatters inched closer before back-to-back treys by Gandia-Rosa an Escobar doubled the Osprey lead back to double figures
- Sams converted a three and a layup to give UNF its largest advantage, 83-68, with 3:23 on the clock
- SU closed the game with a 9-4 spurt but it wasn't enough to catch the Ospreys

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
- Win snapped a 5-game road losing streak for the Ospreys
- North Florida had double figure 3PM for the 5th consecutive contest
- All 10 UNF players that got on the floor scored with all five starters reaching double digits for the third straight game
- Wajid Aminu accounted for all three of UNF's blocks in the game and became just the fourth player in program history to record 100 career blocked shots
- UNF committed 11 turnovers, its lowest total since playing Southern Miss in November
- North Florida defense forced 20+ turnovers for second game in a row and third in the last four

LAST WORD
"I think we just survived the first half. I don't think we played very fundamentally sound. Playing on the road should be second nature to us after having done it so many times this year already. Obviously, the adjustments we made and the way the team came out and played in the second half was more like the way we have played especially defensively over the last several games. Really, really proud of the team's effort. I thought everybody that stepped on the floor contributed and had different moments where they made a difference in the game. That's what we want and that's who we are. We just needed to continue to believe and do the right things." -- Head coach Matthew Driscoll

NEXT UP
North Florida continues its road swing Saturday at ASUN newcomer Liberty in Lynchburg, Va.