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University of North Florida Athletics

Garrett Sams shoots a layup against Liberty in the ASUN Tournament
ASUN Photos
63
North Florida UNF 16-17
71
Winner Liberty Lib 27-6
North Florida UNF
16-17
63
Final
71
Liberty Lib
27-6
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
North Florida UNF 30 33 63
Liberty Lib 35 36 71

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

Liberty Clips Ospreys in ASUN Semifinal

Video Highlights

OPENING TIP
Score: #3 North Florida 63, #2 Liberty 71
Records: North Florida (16-17) | Liberty (27-6)
Location: Vines Center (Lynchburg, Va.)
The Short Story: For the third time this season, North Florida and Liberty battled into the closing minutes with the home team making the decisive plays to earn the victory. UNF closed the season with a hard fought 71-63 loss to the Flames in semifinal action of the ASUN Championship Tournament.

GAMEDAY MEDIA CENTER
Final Boxscore

NOTABLE NUMBERS
- Garrett Sams closed out his junior campaign with another strong showing, finishing with 22 points and 5 rebounds
- Wajid Aminu (14 pts) and Carter Hendricksen (11 pts) also reached double figures for the Ospreys
- Aminu hauled in a team high six rebounds in leading UNF to a 30-28 advantage on the glass
- Scottie James scofred 24 points and corralled 9 rebounds in pacing the Flames
- The #BirdsofTrey made 13 three-pointers in the game, marking the fourth consecutive game with 10+ treys
- Ospreys shot 47% from the floor while the Flames connected at a 50% clip
- The Flames attempted 16 free throws compared to just seven for the Ospreys
- Liberty converted 16 UNF miscues into 18 points, which proved to be a key difference

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half Notes
- Liberty opened the game with an 8-2 run as North Florida struggled to get things rolling on offense
- Carter Hendricksen drilled a three followed by three consecutive baskets from Wajid Aminu slowed the Flames fast start
- Garrett Sams connected on back-to-back treys midway through the stanza to give UNF its first lead of the night, 17-16
- A second Hendricksen triple put the Ospreys up by three before Liberty answered with nine consecutive points to regain the lead
- JT Escobar and Hendricksen both added three-pointers in the closing minutes of the period, but Flames held a 35-30 advantage at the half
 
Second Half Notes
- Sams remained hot to start the second half, making a three on UNF's opening possession
- The game settled into a back-and-forth affair with the teams trading baskets for several minutes of action
- Liberty opened up an 8-point margin (51-43) but North Florida rallied behind a 10-4 spurt that trimmed the gap to two points (55-53) with 7:28 left to play
- Sams accounted for seven points in the run including a trey and a three-point play
- A few minutes later, LU regained the momentum with a 9-3 surge that included four free throws and a big three-pointer by Caleb Homesley which expanded the margin to eight with 1:38 showing on the clock
- North Florida continued to battle getting a trey from Sams and a basket for Aminu but the Flames were able to convert enough free throws down the stretch to hold onto the win

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
- Sams closed the season scoring double digits in five straight games including three with 20 or more
- All three games vs Liberty this season were decided by 8 points or less and the home team always earned the win
- Sams matched his career high with 6 treys, marking second time he reached that total against Liberty
- Hendricksen reached double figure points for the fourth straight contest
- Ospreys finished the season 5-13 on the road while Liberty improved to 16-1 at home this season
- Flames advance to Sunday's ASUN Championship game at top-seeded Lipscomb


LAST WORD
"Super proud of these guys. We talked before the game about the story in Deuteronomy and the journey through the wilderness that took 40 years. Well our journey took 33 games. When you go through the wilderness you face a lot of different things that you have to be able to handle, endure and persevere through and our guys did that. Our guys showed it again tonight as we continued to fight and not quit. We continued to just do what we needed to do. It seemed like the lead would be at 5 or 6 and we'd get it back down and then it would go back to 5 or 6 and we'd get it back down again. We eventually cut it to two and had a chance or two with a shot to cut it to one or even take the lead back. It was really cool to see our team start hot with a 3-1 conference record, then lose six straight but then find a way to win six straight to end the season and then add another win on Monday against North Alabama to reach tonight's game. I don't think many people gave our guys the credit they deserve for going from 3-7 into the No. 3 seed in the tournament. I'm super proud of what these guys have done and we have no seniors. Liberty has a lot of guys coming back next year as well so I can see this turning into a nice little rivalry." -- Head coach Matthew Driscoll

NEXT UP
North Florida has concluded its 2018-19 schedule
 
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