Jan. 27, 2010

Box Score

Spartanburg, S.C. - North Florida held Upstate to below 30 percent shooting for the game and held off a late-charging Spartan comeback to take a 55-53 victory Wednesday night in A-Sun men's basketball action in the Hodge Center.

North Florida improved to 10-11 overall and 5-6 in the A-Sun with the win. The Ospreys also got revenge for Upstate's 64-50 victory in Jacksonville just six days ago. The Spartans fell to 3-18 overall and 3-8 in the league with the loss.

Upstate struggled to get anything going offensively and finished the game shooting 29 percent from the floor. The Spartans made just 3-of-15 from the three-point arc. It took nearly 31 minutes before any Spartan other than Ryan LeGates made more than one field goal in the game.

"We have lost six home games just like this game tonight where we had a chance to win, but didn't play with the attitude you need to win games," said Upstate head coach Eddie Payne. "That was a bad performance. It was a disappointing loss."

North Florida's defensive effort and Upstate's inability to make shots allowed the Ospreys to open a 12-point lead, 46-34, with 9:49 to play. Despite its lackluster performance, Upstate managed to stick around and have a chance to win the game at the end.

Trailing by eight with 2:33 to play in the game, Upstate held North Florida scoreless for the next 2:30. The Spartans battled back to cut the lead to five on a three-point play from Mezie Uzochukwu with 2:24 to play in the game. A pair of free throws from Carter Cook closed the gap to three, while Uzochukwu's layup with four seconds to play after four missed shots and four offensive rebounds got the Spartans within one. Jerron Granberry sank one of two free throws with three seconds to play, but Uzochukwu's half court heave fell short and North Florida escaped with the win.

North Florida never trailed in the game and there was just one tie, and that came just under three minutes into the contest. The Ospreys opened a 20-10 lead with 6:59 to play in the first half and looked poised to take a healthy lead into the locker room. However, Upstate battled to cut the lead to three points at the intermission.

Ryan Legates' three-pointer with 14:02 to play in the game cut the North Florida lead to three, but the Ospreys rattled off five straight points and went on a 10-1 run to open a 12-point lead with 11:00 to play, setting up the final 10 minutes of the game.

North Florida shot 44 percent from the field for the game and connected on 6-of-14 from the three-point arc. The Ospreys made just 7-of-12 from the free throw line. UNF dominated in the paint, owning a 26-16 lead down low.

Stan Januska and Matt Sauey each scored 11 points to lead North Florida. Andy Diaz added seven points and 11 rebounds, while Brad Haugabrook finished with six points and seven assists.

Uzochukwu led Upstate with 15 points and 10 rebounds for his fourth double-double in the last eight games. It also marks the Spartans' sixth double-double in the last eight contests. LeGates finished with a career-high 12 points. Josh Chavis had five points and six assists.