The University of North Florida men’s basketball team couldn’t overcome a slow start, falling to West Georgia on Saturday afternoon, 90-72. The win was the Wolves’ first-ever Division I win at home in program history.
First Half
West Georgia set the tone early, beginning the game on a 7-0 run to open play. The Ospreys started the game off uncharacteristically cold shooting-wise, missing their first five shots from the field.
Sophomore guard Jasai Miles put the first points on the board for the Ospreys four and a half minutes into the contest. He later hit UNF’s first 3-pointer, after North Florida began the game 0-8 from beyond the arc.
The Wolves took advantage of UNF’s cold shooting, building up a 25-13 lead going into the first media timeout. West Georgia forward Kolten Griffin hit a long-range effort at 7:37 to extend the Wolves lead to 16.
West Georgia further extended their lead to 21 going into the next media timeout.
To close out the first half, sophomore guard Jaylen Smith sunk a late three for the final points of the half. The Ospreys entered the locker room down by a score of 43-27.
UNF’s main struggle was on the offensive end of the court. In the first half, they shot just 16.7% from 3-point range, their lowest total in any half vs. an Atlantic Sun opponent this season.
Second Half
The Ospreys were determined to begin the second half on a high note, with Smith getting fouled and sinking his free throws, followed by freshman forward Josh Harris scoring at the rim.
Smith drove inside a few possessions later, converting a basket and getting fouled in the process, earning three points for the Ospreys. Those points made it 47-34 in West Georgia’s favor with 17:54 to go.
The game began to move frenetically, with both sides trading baskets to make it 58-42 with seven and a half minutes left on the clock.
Coming out of the next break, graduate forward Liam Murphy sunk a shot from deep after a quick pass from Smith for his first 3-pointer of the afternoon after starting the game off 0-5 from long range. Jaylen Smith ended the game with 13 points, 2 rebounds and 4 assists.
The Ospreys began to build some momentum, as senior guard Nate Lliteras hit a long-range shot and got fouled in the process, converting on the four-point play. UNF continued to chip away at the Wolves’ lead, with Jasai Miles sinking a 3-pointer as well to bring the game to within 10 points with 7:41 left on the clock.
West Georgia responded with a 6-0 run, punctuated by a dunk from guard Kyric Davis to power the Wolves to a 20-point lead.
This proved too deep a hole to climb out of for the Ospreys, as Kolten Griffin sunk a perimeter shot to put the finishing touches on West Georgia’s first-ever conference win at home.
Up Next
The Ospreys will visit their cross-town rival, Jacksonville University, on Saturday at 6 p.m. for the first 2025 edition of the ‘River City Rumble.’
