It was a physical and intense matchup between two inner state rivals this evening as the FGCU Eagles took down the UNF Ospreys, 68-66.
FGCU came into Thursday’s matchup losers of seven out of their last eight games, and losers of five consecutive games.
From the tip, UNF did a great job scoring down low, as their first eight points all came in the paint courtesy of Jadyn Parker.
The Eagles did a great job on both sides in the first half shooting the ball and closing the passing lanes off. FGCU shot an efficient 14-30 from the field and 4-9 from deep in the first half, including four steals on the other end. FGCU leads the game narrowly at the half 32-31.
The Ospreys, who were in a shooting slump in the first half, came out firing hot in the second as they shot 14-28 from the field and 5-9 from deep.
Both teams played a very tight game the entire way through, as the largest lead of the game was a five-point lead held by the Ospreys in the second half. Big baskets by Jose Placer and Dorian James late in the game gave UNF a one-point lead with 39 seconds remaining.
Eagles guard Isaiah Thompson drove the lane and kicked out to a wide-open Dakota Rivers in the right corner, who hit the eventual game-winning three-pointer with 12 seconds left in the ball game.
UNF had the last possession of the game but a missed layup attempt by Jose Placer sealed the game and FGCU took the road win.
After the game, UNF’s Head Coach Matthew Driscoll was asked if he felt the ball was stagnant as they only had nine assists on 25 made field goals and Coach Driscoll stated:
“No I thought we were stagnant. I talked about it at halftime, we came out and it felt like the ball was zipping, zipping, zipping and it felt like things were starting to flow and move. But then the ball started to stick again.”
Both UNF and FGCU are now 5-8 in ASUN conference play, but the Eagles hold the tiebreaker as they swept the season series versus the Ospreys.
UNF will have a quick turnaround again at home on Saturday afternoon against another Florida team, Stetson.