A game that the men’s basketball team (11-16, 5-5 ASUN) needed to put in the win column to stay as a top seed in the ASUN conference unfortunately did not happen. UNF fell to Kennesaw State Owls (8-17, 4-6) on the road 89-81 on Feb.8.

The Ospreys started the game out leading the Owls 8-0. However, five minutes later North Florida looked up and the score was tied.

Kennesaw State didn’t let their foot off the gas pedal in the first half as they took a lead into the half, up 42-40. The Owls got a great deal of results from Nick Masterson in the opening half leading all players with 16 points. He finished the night with 28 points. Sophomore Noah Horchler led the Ospreys in the first half with 12 points.

The second half was a scoring feast for both teams. North Florida were back to their old ways shooting the ball well from beyond the arc for most of the second half. The Ospreys answered many of the shots taken by the Owls and it looked like a boxing match as conference foes traded blows with three-pointers or driving inside the paint to get hard earned baskets.

A costly turnover on the inbound play with 48 seconds to play sealed the fate for the game. The Ospreys were forced to go to the intentional foul late in the game, where the Owls connected on their free-throws and pulled away.  

One situation that needs to be addressed in this game and many of the games that have taken place this year is the turnover situation. This team is very young, and gives maximum effort on almost every play. This is just a learning curve, and Ospreys will need to show improvement when it comes to who needs to get the ball on the court.

Ivan Gandia-Rosa had a stat stuffing sheet tonight recording the only double-double for the Ospreys. It was another game where Horchler led all Ospreys with 22 points.

The men’s basketball team will have a chance to prove that this young team can hang with anybody in the conference as they travel to Nashville, Tennessee to play Lipscomb University on Feb. 10. 

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