The University of North Florida Men’s basketball team opened the 2023-2024 season at home for the first time in over a decade, pulling away with a comfortable 92-55 win over the lower-division Coastal Georgia Mariners. 

The first half wasn’t exactly a struggle as UNF never surrendered the lead or let Coastal Georgia get too close. Despite this, the Ospreys didn’t go on a long scoring run until the second half. 

After the 38-24 halftime lead, the Ospreys shot only 40% from the field and 29% from three. The second half was a whole different story. 

The offensive onslaught was led by six Ospreys notching double figures, including Bucknell transfer Jake van der Heijden posting an impressive 18 points in 12 minutes of action. 

“I feel like we got guys who can score up and down the roster,” the Raleigh native said. “Everytime we go in, we’re all looking to shoot.”

Heijden shot at an efficient 7-8 from the field and 4-5 from three-point range. This contributed greatly to the Ospreys overall 13-37 mark from beyond the arc. 

“They realized {Heijden} was feeling it a little bit and obviously we shared it, 11 assists on 18 baskets in the second half,” head coach Matthew Driscoll said. 

The Ospreys also passed the ball well and found open players quickly, with 17 total assists on the night. UNF also had 46 bench points, which Heijden and Discroll both credit to the system they play. 

“The ball’s always going to find you in our system. The key is you’ve got to be ready to do what you have to do.”

Certainly many players did their job. The Ospreys did just enough in half one to hold a solid 14 point lead at the intermission. Even so, North Florida mainly pulled away from Coastal Georgia in the second half.

The Ospreys found more open players, nearly doubling their assist total from the first half. This led to a 21-0 run going into the final media timeout. This all accumulated to 54 Osprey points in the final frame leading to their most points scored in a season opener since 2015.

UNF had five new players make their debuts on the team, with three of them scoring in double-digits. The Ospreys continue their non-conference schedule as they travel to Charleston Southern University to face the Buccaneers. Tip off is on Nov. 9 at 7 p.m.