Photo courtesy of 10th Year Seniors
The Osprey men’s basketball team outscored opponents 300-187 in an exhibition tour in the Bahamas, finishing 3-0.
This was the team’s first time competing in this tour, but Head Coach Matthew Driscoll has experienced international play before.
Photo courtesy of 10th Year Seniors
“It’s going to be a great opportunity for our guys to be together. You can only do it every four years, so we went four years ago.” Driscoll said. “We went to Canada, so this year we’re going to the Bahamas and we get to play games against international players and the guys get a different experience. For some guys an experience they never had before and may never have again.”
Each game was played under International Basketball Federation (FIBA) rules. Unlike the NCAA, there are four 10-minute quarters, jump balls and a 24-second shot clock. Touching the basketball above or on the rim cylinder is allowed as well. Per NCAA rules players can only play in one foreign trip during their collegiate career.
In the Ospreys’ opening game on Aug. 1 at Sir Kendal Isaacs National Gymnasium, the Ospreys won 102-84 over the Bahamas All-Stars. Dallas Moore, junior guard, scored a game high 26 points. During Moore’s performance, he went 4-4 from the international 3-point line. In similar fashion of last season, six Ospreys made a total of 14 3-pointers for the game.
Juniors Chris Davenport and Romelo Banks scored 15 and 13 points respectively, while redshirt sophomore Nick Malonga scored 11 points in his first time on the court for the Ospreys.
Photo courtesy of 10th Year Seniors
In the Ospreys’ second game on Aug. 2, the Ospreys defeated IBA Elite with a 102-43 victory. Each player on the UNF roster contributed to the team’s 102 points, with senior Beau Beech and Moore in double digits.
On the defensive front, nine players brought down 5 or more rebounds, and the team blocked a total of 10 shots. Senior Demarcus Daniels tallied 6 blocks on his own.
The Ospreys cruised in their final game on Aug. 4 winning 96-60 against AC Bahamas, according to the team’s Twitter account. Beau Beech hit 8 shots from behind the 3-point arc as UNF closed out the exhibition tour with a 3-0 record.
The NCAA basketball season doesn’t officially begin until November, and individual teams have not announced season schedules. The Ospreys are coming off of their best season in school history as they earned the Atlantic Sun Championship and an NCAA tournament berth, so expectations are high for the “Birds of Trey” in the 2015-2016 season.
ICYMI: Ospreys won final game on Bahamas Tour, 96-60! check out game replay courtesy of @10thyrSeniors https://t.co/Bu3Kk4uA4g
— UNF Men’s Basketball (@OspreyMBB) August 5, 2015
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