Winning the tip-off and scoring the first points of the game didn’t give UNF enough confidence to keep up with the aggressive Lipscomb Bison, as UNF lost 79-55 Saturday night.
“Obviously we are very disappointed,” head coach Matthew Driscoll said.”We weren’t quite where we needed to be, and some of the adjustments we made didn’t make a difference. It’s one of those things where you can’t let one thing lead to another. You’ve got to move on to the next thing,”
Although the game did result in a loss, UNF did hold the lead three times during the first half with a lot of help from a few players on the team. The duo keeping the Ospreys in a close game with Lipscomb was junior point guard Brad Haugabrook and freshman guard Jerron Granberry.
Granberry led UNF with 13 points, as Haugabrook tied for a game-high four assists, both scoring eight points in the first. Junior guard Stan Januska also got the Ospreys started in the match with a three pointer and a lay-up in the first minutes of the half.
UNF shot 20 percent from 3-point range along with a 50 percent average from the free throw line. Lipscomb shot 41.2 percent from 3-point range and 72.7 from the free throw line. They also came out strong with a foundation of lay-ups helping them gain the lead. Still it wasn’t enough to keep the Bison from gaining a 12-point lead by the end of the first half.
“We came out and tried to compete, but Lipscomb is a great team and they did what they had to do,” said Granberry. “You can’t take away anything from them. We can’t dwell on this loss. Like coach said, we have to look at the game film and go to practice tomorrow and get ready for JU.”
Freshman forward Andy Diaz started the second half scoring off a lay-up and continued to boost the UNF scoreboard, adding another eight points for UNF in the half. Sophomore forward Matt Sauey also scored five points in the second half. However, the majority of the Ospreys’ points came off foul shots in the last parts of the match.
Twelve out of the 19 total points scored by the Ospreys in the second half were free throws, including one by junior forward Kyle Groothuis that followed a double technical foul made by one of the Bison that had UNF fans on their feet chanting his name for the rest of the night.
Even with 19 points added to their score, UNF was unable to surpass Lipscomb’s lead in the second. The Bison consistently held a 10- to 20-point lead for the entire half and walked away with the win.
UNF’s loss will now drop their season record to 9-9 overall and 4-4 in A-Sun play, but Driscoll isn’t worried and is still looking forward to Monday’s game against JU.
“That’s the great thing about basketball compared to football. Football you have to live with that for a week,” Driscoll said. “We are not going to let this affect our game against JU.”
