Jalen Nesbitt led the University of North Florida Ospreys with 26 points and four steals over the Northern Kentucky Norse with a commanding 88-69 victory in the UNF Arena on Feb. 21.
After a slow offensive start, the Ospreys (18-11, 10-2) went on an offensive spurt behind Nesbitt, UNF’s senior starting guard. At the half, the Ospreys went up 35-30 with Trent Mackey, junior guard, following through on one of Nesbitt’s missed free throws.
The Ospreys’ offensive power would be too much for the Norse’s defense in the second half having three players in foul trouble. UNF’s Demarcus Daniels, junior forward, scored 15 points, four blocks, and seven rebounds. On the defensive front, Beau Beech, UNF junior starting forward, grabbed 10 boards off of the glass.
“When you have character, you can do whatever you want to do. Because character gives you confidence,” Head Coach Matthew Driscoll said. “I thought these guys played with tremendous confidence.”
For the Norse, Chad Jackson, starting guard, scored 18 points with five rebounds. Jake Giesler, starting forward, fouled out the game late in the second half with eight points.
Next on the Ospreys’ schedule will be a face-off against the current top seed in the A-Sun, the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles in Fort Myers, Fla. on Wednesday, Feb. 25 at 7:05 p.m. This will be a showdown of the top two teams in the conference.
Gallery photos by Camille Shaw
[doptg id=”132″]*2/22/2015 at 4:05 p.m. – Updated with video
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