East Carolina Escapes Ospreys Rally, 73-67

Thursday, December 10

Greenville, N.C.

5:00 p.m.

University of North Florida

0-7

East Carolina

5-0

North Florida

East Carolina

12/10/2020 7:49:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: North Florida Athletics

**Photo courtesy of ECU Athletics**

OPENING TIP
Score: East Carolina 73, North Florida 67
Records: North Florida (0-7) | ECU (5-0)
Location: Williams Arena (Greenville, N.C.)
The Short Story: North Florida men's basketball mounted a late second half surge but came up short in their bid for road win at East Carolina, falling 73-67 on Thursday night at Williams Arena.

BY THE NUMBERS
- Lone senior Ryan Burkhardt led the way for UNF scoring a career best 15 points on 5 of 11 shooting from beyond the three-point arc
- Emmanuel Adedoyin joined him in double digits finishing with 11 points to go along with his five rebounds, four assists and three steals
- Dorian James and Jonathan Aybar each chipped in nine points with Aybar narrowly missing a double-double after also pulling down nine boards
- Jadyn Gardner posted 20 points and 12 rebounds to pace the Pirate attack, that saw three players in double figures

NOTABLE MOMENTS
- The two squads traded baskets thru the opening five minutes with neither team leading by more than a basket
- With the score tied at 9, North Florida netted eight straight points including three-pointers from Emmaneul Adedoyin and Ryan Burkhardt to seize the momentum
- The Osprey margin grew to as large as nine points on several occasions until the Pirates rallied behind an 13-2 run of their own
- ECU regained the lead following nine straight points only to see Jacob Crews halt the run with a triple for UNF
- North Florida would make just one of its final 11 shots of the opening stanza allowing East Carolina to carry a slim 40-38 lead into the break
- A fast start in the second half for ECU grew their lead to 7 points (48-41) just four minutes into the action
- The Pirates would maintain a lead for the first 12 minutes of the half before North Florida mounted a comeback
- Dorian James had buckets at the start and end of a 12-2 run for the Ospreys that allowed UNF to retake the lead 63-61 with 3:33 left to play
- Aybar had a basket and Burkhardt drilled a pair of treys in the run as well
- The lead teetered back and forth over the next few possessions but ECU would secure the win making 5 of 6 free throws in the final seconds

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
- Marked the second time that UNF had just a two point halftime deficit
- ECU posted a slight 42-38 lead in rebounding
- Ospreys were just 8 of 31 (25.8%) from the three-point arc on the night
- North Florida took care of the ball committing only 12 turnovers while forcing 11 by the Pirates
- UNF got 27 points off the bench

LAST WORD - Head Coach Matthew Driscoll
"We talked pregame about resiliency, resolve and the ability to have resolution and I thought the guys demonstrated them all tonight. They showed perseverance and continued to fight and responded after ECU made that 11-2 run in the first half from the eight to four minute mark. We went into halftime feeling pretty secure with what they were doing and went into the half in a good spot. We did a good job not letting them get too big of a lead by getting key stops. We got stops on 10 of 12 possessions and did a great job flipping the floor on the offensive end. We made some huge shots and great unselfish passes. Down the stretch, give them credit. They had a much more experienced group but we were still right there. It was back-and-forth and they were eventually able to make some free throws and we missed a couple shots. Lot of guys did alot of good things. Some guys didn't shoot it as well as they would've liked but we continued to compete. We are still looking for that game where we put it together for 40 minutes and that is where we have to continue to grow."

NEXT UP
North Florida returns home to host in-state foe FIU, Saturday at 5 p.m. in UNF Arena. The game marks a stretch with three of the next four games at home for the Ospreys.