Men’s Basketball Preview: North Florida comes home to face USC Upstate

+Photo+by+Joslyn+Simmons++

Joslyn Simmons

Photo by Joslyn Simmons

DeAndre Pearson

The Ospreys (11-17 overall, 5-6 ASUN) return to the UNF Arena to defend their home court against the USC Upstate Spartans (7-21 overall, 2-9 ASUN), for the first game during Homecoming Week on Thursday, Feb. 15.

Over the weekend, men’s basketball had a bitter loss to Lipscomb, 82-75 after they ran out of steam in the final minutes of the game.  Freshman forward Trip Day led the Ospreys with 22 points in their loss. Ivan Gandia-Rosa leads the Ospreys in scoring, averaging 13.8 points per game.

USC Upstate heads to Jacksonville after a home loss to the conference-leading Florida Gulf Coast Eagles. Jace Hogan led the Spartans with a double-double performance of 14 points and 11 rebounds during the contest. Deion Holmes leads the Spartans with 14.9 points per game, after Saturday’s contest.

In the previous matchup on Jan. 20, The Birds of Trey sealed a comfortable win on the road, 100-80. The first meeting of season was close early on, before North Florida had a 61 point second half on the road.

The Ospreys greatly benefited from the scoring outburst of Noah Horchler, who poured on 31 points on the Spartans.

North Florida is currently locked in a three-way tie with NJIT and Kennesaw State for fourth place in the ASUN.

The rematch tips off at 7 p.m. at the UNF Arena.  For live play-by-play action, follow @SpinnakerSports on Twitter.

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