Men's Basketball Falls in Close Game at Eastern Kentucky

Thursday, January 9

Richmond, Ky.

7 p.m.

University of North Florida

7-9,0-3ASUN

Eastern Kentucky

8-8,2-1ASUN

North Florida

Eastern Ky.

1/9/2025 10:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Trio of Ospreys Notch Double Figures Scoring in Road ASUN Debut

RICHMOND, Ky. - North Florida men's basketball overcame a double-digit, first-half deficit with a look to tie late in regulation before ultimately falling to Eastern Kentucky, 79-74, on Thursday evening.

EKU 79, UNF 74

RECORDS

North Florida | 7-9, 0-3
Eastern Kentucky | 8-8, 2-1

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

First Half: Senior guard Oscar Berry got the scoring started for North Florida with four points to knot the score through the opening three minutes of action...the Colonels secured an 8-4 lead at the initial under 16-minute media timeout...facing its largest deficit of the game at 23-11, North Florida went on a 15-3 run over 4:46 minutes of action to tie the score at 26 with 4:04 minutes left in the first half...junior guard Kamrin Oriol turned in 10 points in 11 minutes off the bench in the first half...the first-half total from Oriol marked his seventh game with 10 or more points off the bench this season and were 10 of 16 first-half bench points for North Florida...UNF closed out the half on a 22-11 run to cut the halftime deficit to 34-33.

Second Half: Freshman forward Josh Harris gave North Florida its first lead of the game with an inside finish on its initial possession out the halftime break...after Eastern Kentucky looked to extend its lead past two possessions at the midway point of the second half, graduate forward Liam Murphy knocked down a trio of free throws to cut the margin to 52-49 at the under-12 media timeout...sophomore guard Jaylen Smith buried a three with 44 seconds left in regulation to cut the deficit to one at 75-74...after Eastern Kentucky knocked down a pair of free throws to push the margin back to 77-74, North Florida was unable to convert on a trio of opportunities from behind the arc to tie the game...Eastern Kentucky secured the eventual final after connecting on another pair of free throws down the stretch.

BY THE NUMBERS

UNF
Jaylen Smith | 16 points, 5 assists, 3 rebounds
Jasai Miles | 14 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists
Kamrin Oriol | 10 points, 3 rebounds

EKU
George Kimble III | 26 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds
Devontae Blanton | 16 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists
Turner Buttry | 12 points, 2 rebounds
Montavious Myrick | 10 points, 10 rebounds, 3 blocks, 2 steals

UP NEXT

North Florida remains on the road to battle Bellarmine inside Freedom Hall on Saturday, Jan. 11, with tip-off set for 6:30 p.m. ET, in Louisville, Ky.