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Carter Hendricksen shoots a jump shot over a defenders outstretched hand
Todd Drexler
70
Liberty Lib
75
Winner North Florida UNF
Liberty Lib
70
Final
75
North Florida UNF
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Liberty Lib 30 40 70
North Florida UNF 27 48 75

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History

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

Ospreys Snuff ASUN Leading Flames with Second Half Surge


OPENING TIP
Score: North Florida 75, Liberty 70
Records: North Florida (14-16, 8-7 ASUN) | Liberty (23-6, 12-2 ASUN)
Location: UNF Arena (Jacksonville, Fla.)
The Short Story: North Florida shot 60 percent from the field and rallied from 13 points down in the second half to earn a 75-70 victory against ASUN leader Liberty on Saturday night in UNF Arena. 

GAMEDAY MEDIA CENTER
Final Boxscore

NOTABLE NUMBERS
- Garrett Sams scored 20 points, highlighted by 6 3PM, in leading a quartet of Osprey starters in double figures
- Wajid Aminu added 19 points along with a team high 8 rebounds and three blocks
- Freshman Carter Hendricksen matched his career best with 13 points and also had six boards, while Ivan Gandia-Rosa chipped in 12 points and dished out seven assists
- Liberty had four players in double digits led by 17 from Caleb Homesley
- North Florida connected on 11 three-pointers in the game while holding the league leading Flames to six treys, three below their season average 

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half Notes
- North Florida opened the game sluggishly, committing turnovers on each of its first four possessions
- The Ospreys eventually settled down behind the strong play of Wajid Aminu, who accounted for the squad's first 8 points and an early 8-4 lead on the Flames
- Garrett Sams hit back-to-back treys to help UNF expand a first half lead, but Liberty answered with a pair of threes  to regain the lead
- The two squads went back-and-forth for several minutes late in the period until the Flames were able to close the half on 7-3 spurt to hold a 30-27 edge at the break
- Aminu (12) and Sams (9) accounted for 21 of UNF's first half production
 
Second Half Notes
- Ivan Gandia-Rosa and Sams drilled triples at the start of the second half as the Ospreys continued to hold a lead on the Flames
- Carter Hendricksen provided a stretch of eight consecutive points capped by a three-pointer that knotted the score at 40-40 with 15 minutes remaining
- North Florida fell into a scoring slump over the next seven minutes with LU using a run of 25-7 to build their largest lead of the night, 60-47, at the 8:32 mark
- Gandia-Rosa scored on a driving layup on the Ospreys next possession sparking an 18-2 response that included a steal and dunk for Ezekiel Balogun, a three-pointer by JT Escobar as well as buckets from Aminu and more by Gandia-Rosa
- The Osprey rally was keyed by getting defensive stops on 12 of 17 possessions for the Flames 
- After an LU basket slowed the surge, Sams drained his 6th trey of the night followed by a layup for Hendricksen giving UNF a 70-64 advantage with 34 seconds left
- The Flames continued to battle and whittled the margin to two with six ticks to go before Escobar and Ryan Burkhardt converted free throws to secure the victory 

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
- North Florida upped its season best win streak to five games with the win
- Loss ended a five-game win streak for the Flames and marked their first ASUN road loss of the year
- Liberty entered the game as the league's top defensive squad allowing just 60 points per game and UNF's 75-point total marked the second highest scored by an ASUN foe against them this year
- UNF has now avenged earlier ASUN losses in each of their last four contests
- Ospreys improved to 8-3 at home this season

LAST WORD
"We talked about it before the game in the lockeroom, the one thing you want to do in life is not run away from things but run toward your problems or trials. When you run toward you have a much better opportunity to repair, fix or move forward. The one thing losing teams do is run away, but when you run toward something and you have that confidence inside you that allows not only good things to happen but also creates some endurance which eventually builds character. I told the guys before the game that confidence is what separates you in life,not arrogance, but confidence. To our guys credit, they played with a ton of it. With 8:32 left we were down 13 and the only thing we said in the huddle was that in order to win the game we had to win it on the defensive end. We got 12 out of 17 stops which is phenomenal and it led to easy offense on the other end. So many guys made so many plays and it was great to see some guys step up and make late free throws. I thought in the last two games that our guys have really started to coach each other well and have started to respond to each other and help each other. I couldn't be more proud of these guys. One other thing, if Wajid Aminu isn't defensive player of the year in the league then there's something wrong with the balloting. He's an unbelievable stopper at the rim and he might be the best that I've ever seen in my life and I've seen some great ones." -- Head coach Matthew Driscoll

NEXT UP
North Florida closes out the regular season with a final home game against in-state foe Stetson on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
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Players Mentioned

Wajid Aminu

#2 Wajid Aminu

F
6' 7"
Junior
International Business
Ryan Burkhardt

#12 Ryan Burkhardt

G
6' 4"
Sophomore
Sport Management
Ivan Gandia-Rosa

#10 Ivan Gandia-Rosa

G
6' 1"
Junior
Sport Management
Garrett Sams

#11 Garrett Sams

G/F
6' 7"
Junior
Sport Management
Ezekiel Balogun

#4 Ezekiel Balogun

F
6' 6"
Junior
Health Administration
Carter Hendricksen

#23 Carter Hendricksen

F
6' 7"
Freshman
Sport Management

Players Mentioned

Wajid Aminu

#2 Wajid Aminu

6' 7"
Junior
International Business
F
Ryan Burkhardt

#12 Ryan Burkhardt

6' 4"
Sophomore
Sport Management
G
Ivan Gandia-Rosa

#10 Ivan Gandia-Rosa

6' 1"
Junior
Sport Management
G
Garrett Sams

#11 Garrett Sams

6' 7"
Junior
Sport Management
G/F
Ezekiel Balogun

#4 Ezekiel Balogun

6' 6"
Junior
Health Administration
F
Carter Hendricksen

#23 Carter Hendricksen

6' 7"
Freshman
Sport Management
F