University of North Florida
2-14,0-3ASUN
West Georgia
9-6,3-0ASUN
Oriol Tallies 28 Points, Men's Basketball Falls To West Georgia
1/8/2026 9:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – North Florida Men's Basketball fell late in a second-half battle to West Georgia, 85-73, at UNF Arena on Thursday night.
Senior guard Kamrin Oriol turned in 28 points, 21 of which came in the second half, on 10-19 from the field, in addition to four assists and two steals in 38 minutes. Oriol posted his seventh game with 20 or more points this season and he has now scored 10 points or more in 15 of 16 games.
Graduate student guard/forward Dalton Gayman added 16 points on 7-11 from the field and 2-11 from behind the arc, in addition to eight rebounds and two steals in 23 minutes.
Oriol opened the scoring for the Ospreys with a driving layup. Defensively, North Florida forced West Georgia into two turnovers within the first two minutes of regulation. Trailing 13-4 early, redshirt sophomore guard/forward Mason Lee buried a three-pointer and freshman guard/forward BJ Plummer made a layup to cut its deficit to four at the 14:21 mark of the first half.
The Ospreys capped off a 12-4 run with a corner-three by redshirt freshman guard/forward Dante Oliver to and a driving layup by Gayman as North Florida trailed 17-16 with 11:16 minutes remaining in the first half. Ten of UNF's first 16 points came inside the paint with seven of those points were off the bench.
West Georgia built momentum as its lead extended back to seven with under eight minutes left in the first half, though the Ospreys fought back. A 12-6 surge fueled by five points from Plummer again saw UNF trail by just one, as UWG held a 32-31 advantage with 5:08 before halftime. The Wolves made a pair of three-pointers in the final two-plus minutes to take a 46-36 lead into the break.
Gayman and Oliver led all Ospreys with eight points apiece at the half. Gayman shot 4-7 from the field and grabbed three rebounds to go with two steals in 11 minutes off the bench. Oliver shot 3-for-4 from the floor and 2-for-3 from behind the arc to go with four rebounds. Oriol added seven points and three assists in the opening 20 minutes. The Ospreys out-rebounded West Georgia 14-12 in the first half and scored six fast-break points to UWG's three.
North Florida made its initial five field goals to open the second half. A 7-0 run out of the locker room for UNF started by a three-pointer from Plummer brought it within three. Oriol scored six of his 28 points in the first 3:35 of the second half.
The Ospreys had the hot hand out of the break, opening 7-for-11 from the field and 2-for-4 from deep. However, West Georgia possessed a 61-52 edge at the second-half under-12 media timeout.
West Georgia earned its largest lead of the game at 55-42. A pair of made free throws by Oriol cut North Florida's deficit to 70-63 with 4:14 left in regulation.Â
A clutch three-pointer by Oriol from the top of the key shrunk West Georgia's lead to 73-69 with 2:42 remaining in the second half, though UWG held off UNF's late comeback before the score reached its final margin. All eight active Ospreys saw action in the game.
North Florida remains at home to host Queens at UNF Arena on Saturday, Jan. 10, at 2 p.m., on ESPN+.
