After hanging tough in the first half, the Ospreys were simply outplayed and oversized by the Seminoles, resulting in a 95-81 loss

The Ospreys (5-8) came out firing on all cylinders in the first half as they scored the first nine of 11 points of the game. The first half was an impressive showing by the Ospreys, staying within 10 for the entire half. After the buzzer, the Ospreys trailed, 39-46, at the half. Redshirt-Junior J.T. Escobar scored 10 points in the first half, nailing all three of his treys. Junior Noah Horchler was a driving force in the game, recording seven points including a monstrous dunk after a shot fake from the corner. Redshirt-Sophomore Mfiondu Kabengele was lighting it up for the Seminoles (10-1), leading the team with 12 points at the half.

The Seminoles made some key adjustments in the second half such as setting up more traps and made it harder for the Ospreys to feed the ball inside. After the second media timeout, the Seminoles were up, 62-44. The Ospreys offense was stifled, only scoring five points in the first four minutes of the half. The lead was cut to 10 by the Ospreys with seven minutes left due to fast paced transition defense and finding key baskets from outside. Despite the Ospreys battling late in the game, the Seminoles won, 95-81.

Escobar, the Tallahassee native, was feeling comfortable throughout the game, as he scored 27 and connected on all six of his shots from deep. Horchler finished the contest, scoring 13 and grabbing six rebounds. Kabengele led the Seminoles in scoring with 24 and was 7-12 shooting from the field.

The men’s team will take a break for the holidays and are back in action with another tough matchup, taking on no. 7 Auburn on the road on Dec. 29 at 5 p.m.

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