JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The North Florida men's basketball team was unable to overcome a fast second half start by USC Upstate on Saturday night, falling 84-71 in UNF Arena. Senior Dallas Moore finished with 26 points while fellow senior Chris Davenport chipped in 15 points and team-high 8 rebounds.
- Moore had 14 of his 26 points in the second half but didn't get his first point of the period until 12 minutes had been played. It was the 52nd 20-point effort of his career.
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- In addition to narrowly missing a double-double, Davenport also handed out three assists and blocked a shot.
- Freshman Wajid Aminu also netted double figures scoring 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting highlighted by four dunks.
- The Spartans had four players in double digits led by a pair of players with 20+. Michael Cunningham topped all scorers with 28 points including 8-8 from the FT line and Michael Buchanan had 22 points and 13 rebounds.
- The Ospreys led 31-29 at the break but USC Upstate scored the first nine points of the second half and never looked back in snapping a five-game losing streak to UNF... The Spartans shot a blistering 64% from the floor in the final 20 minutes while also making 4 from 8 from long range after going 1-for-10 from beyond the arc in the first half.
"Give Upstate credit for making big shots and toughness plays all night long,” said Ospreys head coach Matthew Driscoll. “We left a lot on the table tonight and that is the most frustrating things for me and the staff. We were really hurt by their 24 points off our turnovers and their second chance points in the second half. I need to do a better job of getting the guys going out of the halftime break. It makes it really tough when you give up 17 points before the first media timeout in a half. I probably should have switched the defenses up earlier and also done some different things with our lineup. This league is tough and it doesn't get any easier moving forward but we will get back to work and continue to improve."