OPENING TIP
Score: North Florida 81, Jacksonville 66
Records: North Florida (17-10, 10-2 ASUN) | Jacksonville (12-15, 6-6 ASUN)
Location: UNF Arena (Jacksonville, Fla.)
The Short Story: The North Florida men's basketball squad exploded for 48 second half points and broke away from a halftime tie for an 81-66 victory Thursday night against crosstown rival Jacksonville.

GAMEDAY MEDIA CENTER
Final Boxscore

BY THE NUMBERS
- Wajid Aminu matched his season high scoring 21 points to go along with five rebounds | Aminu went 8 of 11 from the field
- Ivan Gandia-Rosa and Garrett Sams each finished with 13 points  while Carter Hendricksen added 11 points and a team best 6 rebounds
- David Bell recorded a double-double (24 pts/11 rebs) in the loss for Jacksonville with two more Dolphins netting double digits
- North Florida shot 57% from the floor in the decisive second half, making five of their eight three pointers in the final 20 minutes
- JU edged the Ospreys, 34-30, on the glass while UNF owned forced Jacksonville into twice as many turnovers in the game (12-6)
- The two squads combined for 78 points in the paint (JU 44, UNF 34)
- Ospreys were 13 of 16 (81%) from the FT line

NOTABLE MOMENTS
- The visiting Dolphins started the game aggressively, building a quick 9-4 lead as North Florida missed its first six three-point attempts of the night
- The Ospreys eventually settled down and used a 13-0 run over a span of 5:30 to grab an 18-9 lead | Five different players scored during the run including three-pointers for Ivan Gandia-Rosa and Ryan Burkhardt
- UNF would maintain an lead until JU began nipping away behind an 8-2 spurt of their own | Jacksonville would regain the lead 31-30 in the closing minute
- Carter Hendricksen drilled a buzzer-beating trey at intermission to send the squads into the break tied at 33-33
- Wajid Aminu hit a three to start the second half for North Florida and scored 9 of the team's first 14 points of the period as the Ospreys began to grow their advantage
- Holding a 55-51 lead and just over 10 minutes showing on the clock, North Florida would break things open outscoring the Dolphins 13-0 over the next 5-plus minutes for a 68-51 advantage
- Jacksonville could get no closer than 15 points the remainder of the way as Aminu closed the game scoring six of the final eight points for the Ospreys
 
INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
- North Florida upped its nation-leading 3PM total to 315 for the season getting 3PM from six different players | Ospreys remain the only team in country with over 300 threes made this season
- Win for Ospreys marked a season best fifth straight
- UNF improved to 10-0 this season when holding their opponent under 70-point mark
- Ivan Gandia-Rosa surpassed former standout Dallas Moore to become UNF's All-Time Assist leader | The record-breaker came in setting up for the game tying three pointer just before the halftime buzzer
- Win marked the 200th in UNF's Division I Era
- North Florida earned reached double-digit ASUN wins for the 6th time under Coach Matthew Driscoll
- Win assures Ospreys of a winning record for 2019-20 and marks the most wins in a season since posting 22 victories in 2015-16
- North Florida becomes the first ASUN team to earn an opening round home game in the upcoming ASUN Tournament and maintains its position at the top of the league standings 
- Attendance for the game was 3,033, the largest of the season
- Ospreys earned first sweep of Dolphins since 2016-17
- UNF moved to 9-0 this season in the River City Rumble standings

LAST WORD
"I think something our guys have done consistently on a day-to-day basis is accept wise guidance from how we need to play to how people are going to play against us or how people are going to defend or attack us. These guys have embraced gaining guidance from each other and our staff. The first half didn't go the way we wanted it to go from not playing well or shooting it well. Fortunately we kept the score tied at 33-33. We talked at halftime that it was critical for our guys to come out in the second half and set the tone, don't let the tone be dictated. I thought our guys did a great job of setting the tone and getting multiple stops. We also started playing with pace which is something we are really good at doing. I think our conditioning and fitness showed well tonight. People worry that teams that shoot threes like us will get tired legs but we didn't and our guys knocked down some huge shots. I am extremely proud of Ivan (Gandia-Rosa) on becoming the all-time assist leader, which is phenomenal to accomplish in three years. However, you can't get the assist record unless you are surrounded by good players and he has come really good guys around him." -- Head coach Matthew Driscoll

NEXT UP
The Ospreys host North Alabama, Saturday at 5 p.m., for the squad's next to last regular season home game