FAU Edges Ospreys, 79-77, in Hoops Home Debut

Monday, December 7

Jacksonville, Fla.

7:00 p.m.

University of North Florida

0-6,0-0ASUN

FAU

-32,00 CUSA

Fla. Atlantic

North Florida

Jose Placer shoots a jump shot over a defenders hand

Photo by: Todd Drexler

12/7/2020 9:44:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: North Florida Athletics

OPENING TIP
Score: FAU 79, North Florida 77
Records: North Florida (0-6) | FAU (3-2)
Location: UNF Arena (Jacksonville, Fla.)
The Short Story: Playing at home for the first time this season, North Florida men's basketball went down to the wire against in-state foe FAU but saw its game tying shot at the buzzer fall short in a 79-77 loss Monday night.

BY THE NUMBERS
- Jose Placer led UNF with 20 points, marking his first 20-point effort of his Osprey career and second of his collegiate career | Placer connected on 4 three-pointers, grabbed four rebounds and handed out four assists
- Sophomore Emmanuel Adedoyin notched career bests in scoring (15 points) including 5 treys and assists (8)
- Dorian James (14) and Josh Endicott (10) also reached double digits for UNF
- FAU had five players in double figures paced by 19 points for Karlis Silins and a double-double (13 pts/10 rebs) by Jailyn Ingram
- North Florida finished with a season best 15 treys | Went 15 of 33 (45.5%) from long distance

NOTABLE MOMENTS
- After an opening 10 minutes that saw neither team hold larger than a three-point lead, FAU capitalized on a cold spell for the Osprey offense using a 12-0 run over a three minute span to build a 32-20 lead
- North Florida regrouped and closed the half on a 19-9 run including a stretch of 11-4 over the final minutes to trim the deficit to two (41-39) at intermission
- Dorian James opened the surge with a short jumper followed by four consecutive three-pointers by Ryan Burkhardt, Alonde LeGrand and a pair from Emmanuel Adedoyin | James added another layup and Adedoyin closed the run with his third triple at the buzzer
- A three by James to start the second half allowed the Ospreys to regain the lead for first time since a 12-10 advantage early in the first half
- The Ospreys used a 12-5 spurt over the next few minutes to build their largest lead, 56-50, with 15 minutes left to play
- The two squads traded turns with the lead for several minutes with neither team able to seize the momentum
- A 7-0 run by the Owls with about 5 minutes left on the clock, put FAU in front 76-69
- UNF refused the quit and got back-to-back treys from Josh Endicott and Dorian James to pull within two, 79-77, in the final minute
- The Ospreys had a chance for the final shot but the game tying attempt came up short allowing the Owls to escape with the win

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
- Four of five Ospreys starters reached double digits | 8 of the 9 players that saw time scored in the contest
- Six players connected on three-pointers with four of them making multiple attempts
- Jose Placer's total was two points shy of his collegiate best total
- FAU entered the game making 12.8 threes a game and the Osprey defense limited them to just 6
- Owls held a 42-29 advantage in rebounding including a 17-4 edge on the offensive end
- Marked the second consecutive game that UNF scored more than 70 points
- Game featured 12 lead changes and 7 ties

LAST WORD - Head Coach Matthew Driscoll
"Great fight. No give up. Looking at our theme tonight was 'You reap what you sow", and allowing 17 offensive rebounds is not very good and not what's expected of this team. It's also not what it takes to win these kind of games. However, we continued to fight and persevere. We had a lot of resiliency and had some guys make some big plays and big shots. We gave ourselves a chance at the end but they ended up being better than us and they won. The game was decided way, way, way before the final sequence. We fought our tails off to get to that play and that's a credit to our guys."

NEXT UP
The Ospreys will make their third trip of the season to North Carolina, when North Florida plays at East Carolina (Greenville, N.C.) Thursday at 6 p.m.