JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - North Florida men's basketball (16-15, 9-7) pulled out its biggest win in the final game of the regular season against Stetson (19-12, 11-5) on Friday evening at UNF Arena.

With their backs against the wall coming into this matchup, the Ospreys saw leadership once again from Chaz Lanier and Dorian James. The duo combined for 46 points and 14 rebounds, as James dropped 20+ points for the second time this season in the final home game of his career.

UNF 78, STET 59

RECORDS

North Florida | 16-15, 9-7 ASUN
Stetson | 19-12, 11-5 ASUN

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

First Half
Jasai Miles started off the action with a layup, along with the first three of the game from Lanier moments later...two more threes were made from Jaylen Smith and Lanier, followed with layups from James and Lanier to go up by eight points...Nate Lliteras earned his first trey of the game with, as Smith and Lanier were not far behind to add on to their totals...Lanier continued to spray from distance to extend the lead to double digits...James executed on the and-one bucket to keep the momentum on the Ospreys' side inching closer to half...after a block by Jah Nze, Jaylen Smith drained a half-court shot at the buzzer to ignited the UNF faithful with a 13-point lead at the break.

Second Half
Ospreys continued its hot stretch with scores from Miles and a three from James to go up by 21 points...the next five makes for UNF came from beyond the arc, as Lliteras, James and van der Heijden all hit one in the stretch, as well as two threes from Lanier...Oscar Berry made an impact with his time on the court dishing out a slam dunk to James with just under 10 minutes remaining...after various free throws from Stetson, Berry continued his hot stretch with an and-one, as well as a turnaround jumper...James scored the last points of the game and was subbed out to roaring applause as the sixth-year senior capped off his illustrious Osprey career at UNF Arena with a 78-59 win against the Hatters.

LEADERS BY THE NUMBERS

UNF
Chaz Lanier | 26 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists
Dorian James | 20 points, 7 rebounds, 2 blocks
Jaylen Smith | 11 points, 3 assists, 2 rebounds

STET
Jalen Blackmon | 22 points, 5 rebounds
Aubin Gateretse | 12 points, 9 rebounds
Stephan Swenson | 10 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists

COACH'S THOUGHTS

NOTES

• Chaz Lanier becomes the second Osprey in D-I program history to surpass 600 points in a season.
• He also recorded his 15th game on the year with 20 or more points, including his 11th in ASUN play.
• James had his second 20+ point performance of the season, with the first coming against JU in January.
• Smith made the first half-court shot of the season for the Ospreys with his buzzer beater at the half.
• The win against Stetson secure UNF's spot in the ASUN Championship quarterfinal round.

UP NEXT

North Florida will travel as the fifth seed in an ASUN Championship Quarterfinal matchup against Austin Peay on Tuesday, Mar. 5, with tip-off set for 8 p.m. ET, in Clarksville, Tenn.