JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Dorian James and
Chaz Lanier showed their experience and leadership in a rivalry game that saw 4,559 people at UNF Arena, as North Florida men's basketball (9-9, 2-1) dominated the second half for an 82-74 victory in the River City Rumble against Jacksonville (9-8, 0-3) on Friday evening.
The Ospreys faced a three-point deficit at the break and made the adjustments on offense to explode for 49 points in the second half. A 10-0 run after typing the score early in the second, followed with a 16-6 run right after, gave UNF enough cushion to secure its first home win in conference play.
Dorian James and
Chaz Lanier were the stars of the show combining for 46 points after lighting it up with dunks and threes. James surpassed 20 points for the first time with a career-high 25 points, while Lanier notched 21 points, as they both played all but five minutes combined in the game.
FINAL SCORE
North Florida (9-9, 2-1) | 82
Jacksonville (9-8, 0-3) | 74
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
First Half
Lanier opened up the scoring against JU with a jumper within the first 15 seconds to take an early two-point lead...it didn't take too long for an Osprey to rattle the rim, as James laid down a dunk for an and-one...Lanier followed James with another dunk, followed with a three-pointer just moments later...after the Dolphins started a scoring run,
Jasai Miles stopped the bleeding with a score with just under 10 minutes left in the first half...James hammered a pair of dunks over a three-minute span, along with a clutch three from
Oscar Berry in the corner...a pair of layups from
Jaylen Smith and James helped the Ospreys to keeping the first-half deficit at three points.
Second Half
Nate Lliteras responded quickly out of the break with a three, along with James earning a layup and dunk...Lanier drove down the lane for a two-handed slam to tie the game and force a Dolphins' timeout...UNF exploded for a 10-0 run after tying the score highlighted with James hitting a jumper and three-pointer in that span...the Ospreys sticked to their philosophy of three's and layups with Lanier hitting a pair of threes with layups from Smith, James and Berry in between...another rim-rattler was thrown down by James, as he kept building up to a career-high scoring mark...free throws over the final minute of the game put the finishing touches on an 82-74 victory at home in the River City Rumble.
BY THE NUMBERS
North Florida
Dorian James | 25 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks
Chaz Lanier | 21 points
Nate Lliteras | 12 points, 3 rebounds
Jacksonville
Marcus Niblack | 18 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists
Donovan Rivers | 10 points, 7 rebounds
Robert McCray | 9 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals
COACH DRISCOLL'S COMMENTS
NOTABLES
- This is the third consecutive win against Jacksonville, as the Ospreys swept JU last season.
- James exceed his career-high scoring mark with 25 points, eclipsing 20 total for the first time as an Osprey.
- The redshirt-senior had one of the most efficient games of his career as well going 11-for-13 from the field.
- Lanier also scored 21 points to give UNF its first pair of 20+ point scorers since last January against Queens (N.C.)
- This is the fifth game with over 20 points this season and the 17th game with double-digit scoring figures.
- Lliteras was the third Osprey with double figures with 12 points to go along with three boards.
- Ospreys held the edge for points off turnovers, 17-9, while only giving up five turnovers the entire game.
- UNF held the sixth-largest crowd in UNF Arena history with an attendance of 4,559, which is the most since 2016.
UP NEXT
North Florida continues at home with two more conferences games next weekend, starting with Kennesaw State on Thursday, Jan. 18, with tip-off set for 7 p.m., at UNF Arena.
