Osprey Basketball Tames Lions in ASUN Opener

Saturday, January 5

Jacksonville, Fla.

5:00 p.m.

University of North Florida

North Alabama

North Ala.

North Florida

Noah Horchler slams a ball through the net

Photo by: Johnny Brown | Campus Connection 838

1/5/2019 10:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: North Florida Athletics

OPENING TIP
Score: North Florida 96, North Alabama 67
Records: North Florida (7-9, 1-0 ASUN) | North Alabama (3-13, 0-1 ASUN)
Location: UNF Arena (Jacksonville, Fla.)
The Short Story: North Florida had four starters score double figures and shot a blistering 62 percent from the field in a convincing 96-67 victory versus North Alabama in the ASUN Conference opener on Saturday night at UNF Arena.

GAMEDAY MEDIA CENTER
Final Boxscore

NOTABLE NUMBERS
- Noah Horchler matched his season best with a team-high 23 points while also topping the squad with seven boards
- Wajid Aminu made 6 of 7 FGs en route to 15 points punctuated by a pair of poster worthy dunks | Aminu also swatted six shots, one shy of his school record total
- Ivan Gandia-Rosa (16) and Garrett Sams (15) also reached double digits for UNF
- Christian Agnew finished with 20 points in pacing a trio of UNA players in double figures
- Ospreys were 37-for-60 from the floor, highlighted by making a near season high 13 treys
- UNF handed out 21 assists led by 8 from Gandia-Rosa, the ASUN leader

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half Notes
- Noah Horchler hit a corner three-pointer to spark an early run that gave the Ospreys an early advantage
- The Lions kept things close until an 11-2 surge by UNF featuring a 6-0 spurt put UNF up by double digits, 31-18, with 6:10 left in the period
- Osprey run started with three straight layups from Wajid Aminu and Horchler | Ivan Gandia-Rosa then completed an old-fashioned three point play followed by a floater from Carter Hendricksen
- North Florida closed the half on a 17-5 run capped by back-to-back 3PM from Ryan Burkhardt and Garrett Sams en route to a 48-27 halftime lead
- UNA has held to 37% shooting in the opening half

Second Half Notes
- North Florida extended its lead quickly in the second half after a three-pointer from Gandia-Rosa
- UNF then went scoreless for three minutes as the Lions rattled off seven consecutive points to trim the Osprey advantage
- After trading baskets for several possessions, North Alabama forced five turnovers as part of a 13-0 run cutting a 24-point deficit to just 11 (62-51) with 11:00 left to play
- Gandia-Rosa ended the scoring drought with another trey
- Minutes later, the Ospreys broke things open behind a 15-0 run that featured nine points scored in just over a minute of play
- The surge pushed the margin to almost 30 and North Florida cruised to the comfortable victory

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
- North Florida remained undefeated at home this season (5-0) and extended current home streak to 8 games
- UNA falls to 0-12 on the road this year and drop their inaugural ASUN Conference opener
- UNF had 10 different players score in the game with four of the five starters reaching double figures
- Ospreys topped 20-assist mark for second straight game
- Win improved UNF's all-time record to 8-6 in ASUN openers (Driscoll is 8-2 in league debuts)

LAST WORD
"I'm really proud of our ability to continue getting better. The guys showed toughness in being to withstand some challenges that arise when you start conference play. League games are tough because we are well scouted and teams know your tendencies. Our guys fought through things not going our way and withstood a strong second half push by UNA. Give our guys credit for weathering that and then doing what they needed to do to push the lead back up. Noah Horchler was a plus 38 when on the floor tonight, which says alot about his ability to not only score on one end but defend and rebound on the other end. The rebounding was even which isn't what we wanted and the second half turnovers also weren't what we wanted either. However, the complete game we played including how we shared the sugar with 21 assists on 37 baskets was very powerful. Our guys impressed me with their ability to make adjustments to how UNA was attacking the zone." -- Head coach Matthew Driscoll

NEXT UP
North Florida hits the road for the first time in ASUN play on Wednesday with a game at Lipscomb in Nashville