Ospreys Tripped Up by Flagler

Saturday, December 19

Jacksonville, Fla.

5:00 p.m.

University of North Florida

1-8,0-0ASUN

Flagler

2-1,0-0Peach Belt

Flagler

North Florida

12/19/2020 8:17:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: North Florida Athletics

OPENING TIP
Score: Flagler 73, North Florida 66
Records: North Florida (1-8) | Flagler (2-1)
Location: UNF Arena (Jacksonville Fla.)
The Short Story: North Florida men's basketball struggled for consistency against a scrappy Flagler squad on Saturday night, falling 73-66.

BY THE NUMBERS
- Sophomore newcomer Jose Placer made six of UNF's 12 three-pointers en route to a career-high 26 points | Placer also had four assists
- Dorian James added 14 points as the only other Osprey in double-digits
- Josh Endicott who returrned to the lineup following an injury led the squad with 8 rebounds and freshman Jonathan Aybar finished with three blocked shots
- Flagler had a pair of players in double figures led by 36 points from Jaizec Lottie | Jalen Barr chipped in a double-double for the Saints with 10 pts/12 rebs

NOTABLE MOMENTS
- North Florida jumped in front to start the game, 10-5, sparked by back-to-back threes from Jose Placer and Jayden Parker
- Midway through the period, Flagler used an 18-4 surge including a 7-0 spurt to build a 23-14 advantage
- Behind the aggressive play of Jaizec Lottie, the Saints maintained a lead into intermission, holding a 41-33 margin
- Ospreys raced out of the break with an 11-4 run keyed by a trio of three-pointers for Placer to close the gap to 45-44 just four minutes into play
- Flagler extended the margin back to double digit minutes later following an 8-0 surge (59-49)
- UNF refused to fold rallying with a 14-4 run of their own that included three-pointers by Emmanuel Adedoyin and Jacob Crews
- The run allowed the Ospreys to tie the score at 63-63
- The Saints would close the contest with a 10-3 run including making necessary free throws down the stretch

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
- Loss marked the first against a non-DI opponent in the Matthew Driscoll era
- Ospreys outrebounded the Saints, 38-33
- UNF committed 15 turnovers resulting in 20 points for Flagler

LAST WORD - Head Coach Matthew Driscoll
"Congratulations to Flagler. They earned this thing from the get go. I thought they were the more aggressive team and you could tell from the jump ball. This is the first time in by 12 years here that we've lost to a non-Division I opponent. That guard (Jaizec Lottie) is obviously a mid-major talent that has probably started more games than anybody on our team except maybe Carter (Hendricksen). He proved it tonight. They executed down the stretch. We made a couple nice runs and got it close and even tied it up late in the second half which shows a great deal of resiliency. As we move forward, this is a bit of a setback as much mental as anything else. I've got to figure out a way to right this ship."

NEXT UP
North Florida closes out its non-conference schedule and the 2020 calendar with a home match-up with Edward Waters on Monday (Dec. 21) at 7 p.m.