After a single-digit loss in the Deaf Dome, the Ospreys (2-3) returned home to host Florida National (2-6) and all the preparation against tough teams seem to pay off for the Ospreys as they dismantled their opponent 112–66 on Nov. 22.
In the early part of the game, it seemed as though the matchup would be tighter than expected. But knowing that they needed to pull away early, or be put on upset alert, the Ospreys flashed their muscles and went off on a scoring bonanza. North Florida shot 50 percent as a team and 55 percent from the three-point line in the first half and would somehow improve their field shooting in the second half.
However two major flaws in the Ospreys’ performance tonight were turnovers (14 total) and a poor performance from the free-throw line (14 of 25) as pointed out by head coach Matthew Driscoll.
“I really don’t understand why we’re struggling on the free throw line,” Driscoll said. “[Especially] with so many good shooters we have on the team. Somehow we gotta correct it and we got to correct it quickly because those things will come back to bite you in the long run.”
Despite the sloppy play, the Ospreys went into the half with the 52-37 lead and would go on to an even more lopsided second half. The Ospreys dominated almost every facet of the game whether it be scoring in the paint where they had a 70–38 advantage or holding Florida National to 35 percent from the field and 20 percent from the three-point line.
Most promising of all for the Ospreys was their productivity from the bench where North Florida had a 58 to 15 advantage. Most notably from their bench performance was freshman guard Wajid Aminu who went 9 of 11 from the field for 18 points and also had 10 rebounds.
“I believe that everybody had the possibility of having a breakout game,” Aminu said. “Once you get in the rhythm it’s easy to score points in this system. Once we get in that flow anyone on the team can possibly score 18 points.”
As if the first 20 minutes of the game weren’t lopsided enough the Ospreys would outscore Florida National 60 to 29 in the second half and extinguish them with a final score of 112–66.
North Florida play its next game in Dayton, Ohio against North Dakota on Nov. 25.
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