Late Threes Push Ospreys Past Panthers for 80-77 Victory

Saturday, December 12

Jacksonville, Fla.

5:00 p.m.

University of North Florida

1-7,0-0ASUN

FIU

-41,00 CUSA

Team	1	2	F
FIU	36	41	77
North Florida	44	36	80

Dorian James dribbles the ball in the lane

Photo by: Todd Drexler

12/12/2020 8:45:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: North Florida Athletics

OPENING TIP
Score: North Florida 80, FIU 77
Records: North Florida (1-7) | FIU (4-1)
Location: UNF Arena (Jacksonville Fla.)
The Short Story: North Florida scored a season high highlighted by career bests from Dorian James and Jonathan Aybar en route to topping FIU, 80-77, Saturday night in UNF Arena.

BY THE NUMBERS
- Redshirt sophomore Dorian James posted a personal best 19 points and pulled down a team high 7 rebounds in pacing the Ospreys to their first win of the season | James was 7 of 9 from the floor including 1-1 from 3-point line and was also a perfect 4 for 4 at the FT line
- Freshman Jonathan Aybar added a career high 17 points along with five rebounds while also blocking three shots
- Redshirt sophomore Jose Placer chipped in 18 points and sophomore Emmanuel Adedoyin had 13 points for UNF
- FIU had five players in double figures led by Tevin Brewer's game high 23 with five three-pointers
- Despite a season low 6 treys for the #BirdsofTrey, Ospreys were able to reach 80-point plateau for the first time

NOTABLE MOMENTS
- FIU raced to an 8-2 lead to start the game and led by as many as nine points (19-10) through the opening eight minutes of play
- The Panthers would maintain an edge until a driving layup from Jose Placer with 7:47 remaining put the Ospreys in front 28-27, marking UNF's first lead of the night
- Placer's bucket was part of an 8-0 spurt for North Florida which saw the Ospreys build a 32-27 advantage
- North Florida kept the lead until the halftime buzzer, holding a 44-36 lead at intermission
- After Placer scored to open the second half giving UNF a double-digit margin, FIU answered with six straight points to close the gap
- UNF regained the momentum using a 9-2 surge capped by a three-pointer from Emmanuel Adedoyin
- The Ospreys lead grew to 12 points, 67-55, with just under 10 minutes left in the game
- FIU mounted a furious rally beginning over the final seven minutes, using a 14-3 run to eventually tie the score at 72-72 with 2:54 on the clock | Ospreys went 1-for-10 from the floor during the Panther comeback
- Jonathan Aybar halted the FIU run, hitting a three-pointer from the top of the key to regain the lead for UNF | Dorian James than drilled a huge corner three on the next possession to expand the Osprey advantage
- With seven seconds left, the Panthers closed the deficit to one-point, 78-77, but lone senior Ryan Burkhardt connected on a pair of free throws to earn the final margin
- FIU's last chance three-pointer missed allowing North Florida to earn the home win

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
- Win snapped an eight-game losing streak for UNF
- Ospreys remained undefeated (3-0) vs FIU in UNF Arena
- UNF led at halftime for the first time this season
- North Florida shot 51.8% from the floor for the game and made 16 of 22 FTs
- Rebounds were even at 35
- Ospreys swatted a season-best seven shots

LAST WORD - Head Coach Matthew Driscoll
"We again talked before the game today about our theme for the season which is perseverance is power. I give the team three things every game related to perseverance and today the first point was sticking to the plan. We knew they would make some threes but I told the guys you can't lose your mind when they make some. For much of the game we did a great job with this, but late they made some threes against us to sort of flip the game. However, we stuck to our plan and didn't change it. We just coached it a little bit better. The second thing was perseverance requires great courage. Our guys showed great courage and understanding. I'm really proud of how we rebounded the ball and how we shared the ball. I'm proud of how different guys made big plays and how we executed our stuff down the stretch. This group just needs to keep getting experience even without some of the players we are missing."

NEXT UP
North Florida travels Wednesday to Gainesville for a meeting with Florida in the squad's final non-conference road contest. Following the UF game, the Ospreys close out the 2020 calendar with a pair of home clashes against Flagler (Dec. 19) and Edward Waters (Dec. 21).