Men's Basketball Struggles in Defeat to FGCU

Wednesday, February 28

7 p.m.

University of North Florida

15-15,8-7ASUN

FGCU

13-17,7-8ASUN

FGCU

North Florida

2/28/2024 11:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Lanier, Nze Co-Lead in Points With 14 Each

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - In the penultimate game of the regular season, North Florida men's basketball (15-15, 8-7) struggled to find its groove in a 79-60 loss in its rematch against Florida Gulf Coast (13-17, 7-8) on Wednesday evening at UNF Arena.

The Ospreys had three double-digit scorers, including Chaz Lanier and Jah Nze both dropping 14 points each, but it wasn't enough to overcome the offensive output of FGCU. Lanier continues to reach double figures in every ASUN game this season, while Nze has reached double figures in three of his last four games since taking over a key rotation role.

FGCU 79, UNF 60

RECORDS

North Florida | 15-15, 8-7 ASUN
FGCU | 13-17, 7-8 ASUN

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

First Half
Nate Lliteras had the first points of the game for the Ospreys with a driving layup to respond to FGCU's first points...after an early run from the Eagles, Lanier slammed a dunk down to break the streak...the next five field goals made for UNF where from beyond the arc, with Nze making three and Jake van der Heijden adding two...Dorian James had his turn slamming one down with a dunk to cut the deficit to seven...a pair of scores from James and a trey from van der Heijden took the Ospreys into the break down eight points.

Second Half
Back-and-forth scoring started the play out of the break with Lanier making a jumper, followed with another dunk from Jasai Miles...Lanier added the fourth dunk of the game for UNF to try and inch closer to a single-digit deficit...Lanier added a three to his point total along with layups from James and Trent Coleman...Jaylen Smith and Nze made the last shots from downtown, but FGCU took the win at The Nest.

LEADERS BY THE NUMBERS

UNF
Chaz Lanier | 14 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds
Jah Nze | 14 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists
Dorian James | 10 points, 5 rebounds

FGCU
Isaiah Thompson | 26 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals
Dallion Johnson | 12 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals
Zach Anderson | 11 points, 4 assists, 2 rebounds
Cyrus Largie | 10 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists

COACH'S THOUGHTS

NOTES

Nze continues to be in impact player as of late averaging 15.3 PPG in his last four appearances.
He has also made at least three treys in three of four games, including a season-high total of four on Wednesday.
Smith and James co-lead with five rebounds, while Lanier led in assists with four total.
It was the seventh consecutive game with the starting lineup consisting of Smith, Lanier, Miles, Lliteras and James.
With help from Nze, Ospreys had the edge with bench points, outscoring the Eagles, 25-13.