The UNF men’s basketball team had a game on a platter for them the day after Thanksgiving, but gave it away at the charity stripe.

In its 68-60 loss against Charleston Southern University Nov. 28, UNF had the lead throughout the majority of the game including the final minutes of regulation.

UNF started the game off quickly by taking a 13-point lead in the first 10 minutes, but Charleston Southern was able to cut the lead down to two points with the score 27-25 at the half.

UNF led by a score of 54-46 with 2:45 remaining in the game. But after a Charleston Southern comeback, UNF missed two free throws that would have sealed the game and instead sent it into to overtime.

Charleston Southern scored the first point of overtime, giving it its first lead since early in the game, and was able to hold onto the lead until the end.

UNF senior guard Cortez Riley scored a game-high and career-high 21 points before fouling out in overtime. Riley also missed one of the game-ending free throws with less than a minute remaining.

UNF was a perfect 4-4 from the line in the first 38 minutes of the game before finishing the game with a 4-6 mark.

“You have to learn to finish, and we had opportunities,” UNF men’s basketball head coach Matt Kilcullen said. “You need to close out the game, especially from the free-throw line.”

Omar Carter and Jamarco Warren led the Buccaneers with 15 points for the game and hit a 3-pointer that tied the game at 56, where it stayed until overtime.  Carter led the Buccaneers to 45-29 margin over the Ospreys in rebounds with nine on the night.

The Ospreys were outscored in overtime 12-4, causing their 54th straight loss on the road.

Despite the loss and the fact the Ospreys are tied with the Jacksonville University Dolphins at the bottom of the Atlantic Sun Conference with a 0-5 record, the Ospreys had 45 percent shooting from the field and an 11:12 turnover to assist ratio.

Junior guard Germaine Sparkes led the Ospreys in assists with three, and steals with two. Freshman forward Matt Sauey contributed two rebounds short of a double-double with 16 points and eight boards.

“From where we were at the beginning of the season to where we are now, we have gotten tremendously better,” Kilcullen said.

UNF has not won a game since a 70-61 game against the Mercer University Bears Feb. 23, earlier this year.

The Ospreys will look for their first win in their home opener against the Lipscomb University Bisons at 7:45 p.m. Dec. 4 after opening their season with three weeks on the road.

E-mail David Sandlin at sports@unfspinnaker.com.