JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Despite an evenly-matched second half, Jacksonville University's men's basketball team fell to crosstown rivals North Florida, 80-64, in both team's ASUN Conference opener and part one of the season's River City Rumble Saturday evening at Historic Swisher Gymnasium.
Managing to keep the Ospreys in check, the Dolphins trailed slightly in second-half points, 36-35.
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Ongoing persistency from the Green and White gave Jacksonville a 10-2 run in the final minutes of the game, but ultimately the Dolphins were unable to overcome the deficit from the first half and dropped to 12-6 overall (0-1 ASUN).
North Florida improves to 6-12 and 1-0 in the league.
Yet another huge block from J.R. Holder early in the first half set the stage as both teams opened the game with stingy man-to-man defense. Holder currently leads the team with 0.6 blocks per game.
An early surge gave the Ospreys a 12-2 lead and kept the pressure on the Dolphin defense.
Expecting the Dolphins' usually-intense offensive play, North Florida took every advantage it could and led by 10 twice more before Jacksonville mounted a comeback.
Down 22-12 with 7:43 remaining in the first half, the Dolphins used a 12-5 run behind three long three-point shots from Tanner Rubio to keep the crowd on its feet and cut Jacksonville's deficit to three, 27-24, with 4:23 to go before halftime.
However, the Ospreys used to a 17-5 run to close out the first half ahead, 44-29.
"I think for us, I'm just really disappointed with the overall effort and intensity we played with today," said Head Coach Tony Jasick. "That's not who we've been and it's not who we're going to be. It's unfortunate that we came out and didn't play really well offensively or defensively."