FORT MYERS, Fla. - North Florida men's basketball (8-9, 1-1) dominated from start to finish in its first conference win of the season at Florida Gulf Coast (7-10, 1-1), 78-58, on Saturday evening.
The Ospreys were unstoppable from three-point range with 17 makes from beyond the arc against the Eagles. UNF earned its first win of the 2024 calendar year, as well as its second road victory of the season.
Chaz Lanier was an efficient 5-for-6 from deep on his way to leading all players with 19 points. This is the fifth time matching or surpassing that scoring mark, as well as his 16th double figure scoring game on the year.
FINAL SCORE
North Florida (8-9, 1-1) | 78
Florida Gulf Coast (7-10, 1-1) | 58
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
First Half
UNF was firing off early with quick scores in the first minute from
Dorian James and Lanier...
Jaylen Smith hit a three in his first start as an Osprey, followed by layups from
Jasai Miles and James...an eight-point run broke out after Lanier threw down an alley-oop jam, along with back-to-back threes from
Oscar Berry and
Jake van der Heijden...UNF continued raining treys with Lanier,
Max Hrdlicka and Berry adding to the total...
Nate Lliteras cashed in on an and-one bucket to double up on the lead with just over eight minutes left in the first half...James hit a jumper shortly after, but Lanier lit up the rim yet again to extend the lead to 16 points...another eight-point run broke out highlighted with threes from James and Miles to reach a 20-point advantage just before the break...Lanier beat the clock with another three to go into the half up by a score of 47-24.
Second Half
Lliteras continued the rhythm of the game for the Ospreys with an early make from range to hit the half-century mark...another score from Lliteras, followed with another pair of threes from Berry and van der Heijden made it a 25-point game...Lliteras earned points once again with a trey of his own to go along with Lanier's fourth three of the game to hit a game-high 29-point lead over the Eagles...after hit its first rough patch in made field goals, Miles found the corner and nailed a three to keep the Ospreys up by a considerable amount...one last dunk from James and three from Lanier solidified a dominant 78-58 win on the road.
BY THE NUMBERS
North Florida
Chaz Lanier | 19 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists
Dorian James | 13 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks
Nate Lliteras | 11 points, 4 rebounds
Jake van der Heijden | 10 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists
Jasai Miles | 8 points, 9 rebounds
Florida Gulf Coast
Dalton Johnson | 17 points, 6 rebounds
Keeshawn Kellman | 10 points, 10 rebounds
Zach Anderson | 10 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists
Isaiah Thompson | 9 points
COACH DRISCOLL'S COMMENTS
NOTABLES
- Ospreys picked up its second road win of the season and the first since Charleston Southern on Nov. 9.
- Second largest margin of victory for UNF over the Eagles with the first being an 87-66 home win on Jan. 12, 2019.
- First win against FGCU on the road since the 2019-20 season, which was also the last time UNF swept the season series.
- Fourth time on the season the Ospreys have hit 17 or more three-pointers as a team.
- It was also the fourth time this season that Lanier has made at least five three-pointers in a single game.
- Miles picked up another start, while fellow freshman Smith earned the first start of his collegiate career.
- Miles also led the team with nine rebounds against FGCU, as no other Osprey had more than four total.
- UNF surpassed the Eagles in points off turnovers, 11-2, second-chance points, 13-7, and bench points, 22-14.
- They also had the advantage in three-pointers, 17-4, assists, 18-9, and blocks, 3-0.
UP NEXT
North Florida returns home to host its first ASUN Conference game of the season against Jacksonville in the River City Rumble on Friday, Jan. 12, with tip-off set for 7 p.m., at UNF Arena.
