JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - North Florida men's basketball used a sharp-shooting performance from three-point range and held off a second-half comeback from Bellarmine to defeat the Knights in a 95-88 home victory inside UNF Arena on Thursday night.
A 45-point first half fueled by a sharp-shooting 7-for-15 start from distance allowed the Ospreys to grab its largest lead of the night (41-30), and ultimately carried UNF's ASUN record to above .500 for the first time this season.
Sophomore guard
Jasai Miles had himself a sensational night en route to a team-high 22 points with eight rebounds, three assists and a 4-for-10 outing from three. Junior guard
Kamrin Oriol followed just behind with 21 points, five rebounds and three assists.
Freshman forward
Josh Harris added 16 points, five rebounds and two blocks. Graduate student forward
Liam Murphy rounded out a balanced scoring attack with 16 points on 3-for-4 shooting from three-point range.
UNF 95, BELL 88
RECORDS
North Florida | 13-11, 6-5 ASUN
Bellarmine | 3-21, 0-11 ASUN
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
FIRST HALF: The Ospreys feasted down low and scored their first eight points inside the paint to grab an 8-3 lead with six of those points coming from Harris less than five minutes in…Miles buried a pull-up three-pointer from the right wing to extend UNF's lead to 16-12 lead at the 13:10 mark and Oriol made a three of his own to push it to 19-12…from there, Oriol knocked down back-to-back threes from the top of the key and left wing that pushed North Florida's lead to 34-25…Miles made a layup and 2-point jumper to maintain a nine-point lead with under three minutes left before BU went on a 7-2 run to cut UNF's advantage to 45-41 at the break.
SECOND HALF: Harris opened the scoring with a pair of free throws to give the Ospreys a six-point edge…UNF narrowly trailed 53-52 at the 15:30 mark before Miles made two shots at the charity stripe to regain the lead…Murphy buried much needed back-to-back threes assisted by Smith to give North Florida a 65-59 lead with under 12 minutes remaining…BU pulled within one with 9:07 left but the Ospreys answered with a 10-2 run in just over three minutes capped off by a layup from senior guard
Nate Lliteras gave UNF a 77-68 lead…Murphy made back-to-back free throws and Miles threw down a wide open dunk that pushed North Florida's advantage to 89-79 with under three minutes to go and the Ospreys never looked back.
LEADERS BY THE NUMBERS
UNF
Jasai Miles | 22 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists
Kamrin Oriol | 21 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists
Josh Harris | 16 points, 5 rebounds, 2 blocks
Liam Murphy | 16 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals
BELL
Jack Karasinski | 28 points, 3 rebounds
Billy Smith | 14 points, 6 assists
Kenyon Goodin | 12 points, 5 assists, 3 rebounds
COACH'S THOUGHTS
NOTES
- UNF's first eight points came inside the paint.
- Oriol set season highs in points, assists, free throws made and minutes.
- UNF opened 7-for-12 from three-point range and finished 43% for the game.
- Miles scored 13 of his 22 points just over 15 minutes into the first half.
- The Ospreys now have an above .500 record in ASUN play for the first time this season.
UP NEXT
North Florida will stay put in Jacksonville with Florida Gulf Coast coming to town on Saturday, Feb. 8, at 5 p.m., in UNF Arena.
