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University of North Florida Athletics

Noah Horchler grabs a rebound over a Dayton defender
Eric Schelkun | Elsestar Images
64
Winner North Florida NORTH 12-16, 6-7 ASUN
63
NJIT NJIT 18-9, 6-6 ASUN
Winner
North Florida NORTH
12-16, 6-7 ASUN
64
Final
63
NJIT NJIT
18-9, 6-6 ASUN
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
North Florida NORTH 33 31 64
NJIT NJIT 31 32 63

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

Ospreys Survive Late Highlander Rally in 64-63 Road Victory


OPENING TIP
Score: North Florida 64, NJIT 63
Records: North Florida (12-16, 6-7 ASUN) | NJIT (18-9, 6-6 ASUN)
Location: NJIT WEC (Newark, N.J.)
The Short Story: For the third consecutive meeting the North Florida and NJIT game was decided by four points or less when the Ospreys fought off a game-winning shot by the Highlanders at the buzzer en route to the 64-63 ASUN road victory on Saturday.

GAMEDAY MEDIA CENTER
Final Boxscore

NOTABLE NUMBERS
- Noah Horchler led all scorers on Saturday finishing with 22 points while hauling down 7 rebounds and 4 steals
- Wajid Aminu chipped in 13 points and a team high 9 boards as the only other UNF player in double figures
- Abdul Lewis had a 20 point/11 rebound double-double to pace the Highlanders
- Ospreys held a 30-24 edge for points in the paint
- North Florida led for nearly 30 minutes of the game

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half Notes
- A 10-0 run early in the game allowed the Ospreys to grab the momentum
- Midway through the period, Noah Horchler scored 10 consecutive points for UNF including running off a personal 7-0 surge to give North Florida their first double-digit advantage, 29-19, with 5:24 remaining
- NJIT mounted a comeback, scoring eight straight and eventually tied the score at 31 with 10 seconds on the clock
- Ivan Gandia-Rosa raced the ball up the floor and saw his floater kiss off the backboard and through the net at the buzzer to give UNF a slim 33-31 halftime lead
- Horchler finished with 19 first half points, going 8-of-12 from the floor highlighted by a pair of treys
 
Second Half Notes
- The Highlanders roared out of intermission, outscoring the Ospreys 9-2 to build their largest lead of the night, 40-35, just two minutes into the half
- NJIT would keep a slight edge over the next several minutes until a quick 7-point spurt by the Ospreys gave them a lead they would never relinquish | Ezekiel Balogun got the run started with a basket followed by a back-door layup for Brian Coffey and the first of two three-pointers on the night from JT Escobar
- A 13-4 spurt highlighted by seven points for Wajid Aminu pushed the UNF margin to a game-high 11 with 1:33 left to play in the game
- North Florida would score just one more point the rest of the game, missing one shot from the floor along with five of six free throws | During that span, NJIT got back-to-back triples from Diandre Wilson and Zach Cooks before Wilson then converted three free throws to close the deficit to one (64-63) with 23 ticks on the clock
- Following a pair of missed free throws for Gandia-Rosa with 10 seconds on clock, NJIT pushed the ball up the court but the Osprey defense proved sturdy forcing a couple of passes before Lewis desperation baseline jumpshot came up shot at the buzzer allowing UNF to escape with the important road win

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
- North Florida snapped a three-game home win streak for the Highlanders while earning the team's first three-game win streak of the year
- Win secured a spot in the ASUN Championship Tournament for the Ospreys
- UNF claimed its 100th all-time win in ASUN play while the game was also the 800th of the program's 27-year history

LAST WORD
"This win was a great testament to our guys. When you have to do what we have to do in the preseason and then to lose some many in a row, it makes every game have so many different meanings to them. We came up here with a two-game win streak and they took a lead and we took it back and then tried to hold onto it. To their credit, they never stopped fighting and we definitely need to do a better job with our free throws down the stretch. Unfortunately, there is not really a way to practice with game pressure and put guys in those situations. There is lots of drills you can think about and try but in the end we just have to do a better job of stepping up and making those free throws so it is not so tight down the stretch. Super proud of our resiliency and our ability to not be discouraged or quit doing the right things to earn the win." -- Head coach Matthew Driscoll

NEXT UP
North Florida played its final regular season road game with a trip across town to face rival Jacksonville in the River City Rumble rematch on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
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