Ospreys Drop Dolphins in ASUN Tournament Opener

Tuesday, March 3

Jacksonville, Fla.

7:00 p.m.

University of North Florida

21-11,13-3ASUN

No. 7 Jacksonville

14-18,7-9ASUN

Jacksonville

North Florida

Josh Endicott yells in excitement on the floor

Photo by: Todd Drexler

3/3/2020 11:36:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: North Florida Athletics

OPENING TIP
Score: #2 North Florida 91 , #7 Jacksonville 88
Records: North Florida (21-11) | Jacksonville (14-18)
Location: UNF Arena (Jacksonville, Fla.)
The Short Story: No. 2 seed North Florida advanced to the semifinals of the ASUN Championship Tournament for the sixth consecutive season after downing crosstown rival No. 7 seed Jacksonville, 91-88, Tuesday night in opening round action at UNF Arena.

GAMEDAY MEDIA CENTER
Final Boxscore

BY THE NUMBERS
- Garrett Sams and Carter Hendricksen each finished with 21 points to pace the Osprey attack | Hendricksen made 4 three-pointers while Sams was 6-for-6 at the FT line on the night
- Ivan Gandia-Rosa ended the night with 17 points along with 8 assists and no turnovers
- Ospreys got solid contributions off the bench from Josh Endicott (9 pts), Ryan Burkhardt (8 pts) and Dorian James (7 pts)
- Jacksonville had two players top the 20-point mark, getting 27 from Diante Wood and 24 for Destin Barnes (4 three-pointers) | David Bell posted a double-double (15 pts/ 11 rebs) before fouling out late in the second half
- JU shot 52% from the floor and posted a 46-26 rebounding advantage
- Ospreys went 21 of 27 from the FT line while also connecting on 12 three-pointers
- UNF forced 14 turnovers that resulted in 21 points

NOTABLE MOMENTS
- First half was back-and-forth featuring 10 lead changes and 6 ties, with neither team holding larger than a seven-point advantage
- Carter Hendricksen opened the game with a three for UNF before JU responded with the next eight points
- An 8-2 run for the Ospreys including a three-pointer and a three-point play for Ivan Gandia-Rosa pushed the home team back in front
- The Dolphins answered with a 10-2 spurt to build a 20-13 advantage
- Back-to-back treys from Ryan Burkhardt and Garrett Sams trimmed the deficit to a single point and a four-point play for Burkhardt allowed UNF to regain the lead 25-24
- It would remain a one possession contest for much of the remainder of the period until Josh Endicott netted five straight points in the closing minute to give the Ospreys a 47-42 lead at intermission
- A three for JT Escobar early in the second half upped the margin to seven and a 7-0 run minutes later aided by five points from Hendricksen and capped by a dunk for Dorian James gave the Ospreys their first double-digit lead of the night, 63-51
- Jacksonville battled back to cut the margin to single digits only to see North Florida extend it back out
- With 3:29 left, James drove to the basket and drew the fifth foul on JU's David Bell | James' three-point play upped the score to 80-67
- JU closed the game on a 21-11 surge, sparked by a trio of three pointers for Destin Barnes including a half-court buzzer beater
- The Ospreys were able to secure the win making 6 of 7 free throws in the closing minutes

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
- North Florida upped its nation-leading 3PM total to 382 for the season getting 3PM from five different players | UNF now has 25 games with 10+ treys made
- UNF improved to 3-1 all-time versus Jacksonville in ASUN Tournament play, win was the Ospreys third straight in the series
- Ospreys 21 wins overall ranks third all-time in program history
- Wajid Aminu blocked 2 shots and now has 200 in his career, the first Osprey to reach that milestone and only the fifth player in ASUN history | Aminu also became the program's All-Time Rebound leader in Division I play
- Ivan Gandia-Rosa surpassed 600 career assists in the game

LAST WORD
"The reason why we've had so much success is because we have an unbelievable culture. When you have that, then you are able to win two championships with one group and than another one with an entirely different group in six years. I'm really proud of how we fought throughout the season. The hardest game in the tournament is always the first one. We really didn't want to start the way we started tonight but I love the way we ended the half and how we played the first 16 minutes of the second half. We dominated on both ends of the floor and we played within our identity. The last four minutes we got away from doing the good, basic plays that we do and allowed JU to have some life. Give them credit for stepping up and making the shots late. I thought we were able to make some big dagger threes down the stretch that allowed us to separate." -- Head coach Matthew Driscoll

NEXT UP
North Florida advances to a semifinal meeting with No. 3 seed Lipscomb, Thursday at 7 p.m. at UNF Arena. Bisons reached match-up after outlasting FGCU, 66-63, on Tuesday night.