OPENING TIP
Score: North Florida 80, North Alabama 67
Records: North Florida (18-10, 11-2 ASUN) | North Alabama (10-16, 5-8 ASUN)
Location: UNF Arena (Jacksonville, Fla.)
The Short Story: North Florida men's basketball opened and closed the first half with 10-2 runs en route to a wire-to-wire 80-67 victory Saturday night over North Alabama in UNF Arena.

GAMEDAY MEDIA CENTER
Final Boxscore

BY THE NUMBERS
- Garrett Sams scored a season-best 25 points to lead the Ospreys | Sams also matched his season high with eight rebounds
- Wajid Aminu narrowly missed a double-double finishing with 15 points and 9 rebounds to go along with his five blocked shots
- JT Escobar chipped in 10 points as the third UNF player in double figures
- North Alabama saw a pair of players in double digits led by 23 points and 10 boards for Mervin James
- North Florida shot 51.8% from the floor in the game while holding UNA to 38.6%
- Ospreys tallied twice as many three-pointers as the Lions, 10-5

NOTABLE MOMENTS
- North Florida opened the game with a 10-2 run as Ivan Gandia-Rosa and Garrett Sams connected on treys during the spurt
- The Ospreys would maintain the advantage, pushing to its largest lead of the half 12 (25-13) as Dorian James converted a personal five point run
- North Alabama posted eight consecutive points to pull within three, 29-26, with just over 6 minutes to play in the half but back-to-back threes from Gandia-Rosa and Sams quickly pushed the lead back up
- Leading by four with 2:26 on the clock, UNF closed the half on a 10-2 spurt for a 46-34 halftime lead | Wajid Aminu tallied seven of the Osprey's points in the run
- Sams sparked North Florida to open second half play, mounting a 7-2 run of his own against the Lions
- Ryan Burkhardt drilled a three as the lone basket for the Ospreys in a 10-3 spurt that allowed North Alabama to trim the margin to 11
- The Lions would get no closer as UNF converted free throws and baskets down the stretch to secure the victory
- North Florida shot 60% from the field in the first half 
 
INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
- North Florida upped its nation-leading 3PM total to 325 for the season getting 3PM from seven different players
- Win extended Osprey's win streak to a season-best 6 games | UNF owned a 7-game win streak at the end of last season
- UNF improved to 11-0 this season when holding their opponent under 70-point mark
- With his 10 point performance, JT Escobar became the 17th player in UNF program history to score 1,000 points as an Osprey
- Ospreys improved to 5-0 all-time against North Alabama on the hardwood
- 11 ASUN wins marks the second most in UNF program history | Record is 12 held by the 2014-15 ASUN Championship group

LAST WORD
"I think people underestimate how difficult it is to constantly have teams coming after you and our guys don't get the credit they deserve for their amazing perseverance. They've been resilient and taking a bunch of punches from all these different teams. When you have a team with older, experience guys like we do, then you have the chance to start the second half with 8 of 11 stops and be poor on offense even missing open shots but still expand your lead. We had one of worst free throw shooting nights as well but were able to again limit an opponent from the three-point line. Ivan really helps us by making key plays that led to key buckets and allowed us to separate tonight. Our guys have done what we've asked but its not going to be an easier as our three remaining games are against the second, third and fourth place teams in the standings. The challenge starts Thursday night at Liberty and these guys have understood that and know exactly whats at hand and what needs to be done to achieve success at this level." -- Head coach Matthew Driscoll

NEXT UP
North Florida travels to Liberty for a battle of the ASUN's top squads in the standings