Video by: Zach Yearwood and Brett Nweeia

Featured image by: Darvin Nelson

UNF’s men’s basketball team dominated the Owls, 86-45, at home Saturday night. Senior Wajid Aminu recorded five blocks, passing Demarcus “Baebae” Daniels as UNF’s all-time leader in blocks.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bp657AQ-1xE[/embedyt]

Right out of the gates, the Ospreys began to run away with the game. In just four possessions, the Ospreys found themselves up 8-0 thanks to a pair of threes by Garrett Sams and JT Escobar, along with two Sams free throws.

8-0 quickly became 12-0 and the Ospreys showed no signs of slowing down. With just over five minutes off the clock, the score was already up to 17-2 in favor of the Ospreys.

This onslaught continued until the halftime buzzer sounded with North Florida leading 52-17 going into the locker room. Sams alone outscored the Owls with 18 points on five-of-six shooting including hitting three of his four three-pointers. 

Other impressive first half performances included Escobar and Aminu. Escobar had 14 points, missing only one of his five three-point attempts. Aminu scored six points but racked up nine rebounds and four blocks in the half.

“Step on their throats,” was the mentality the Ospreys adopted in the second half. With a large lead, Head Coach Matthew Driscoll decided to keep the offensive pressure going as the Ospreys out-scored the Owls,34-28, in the second half.

For the final minutes of the game, the Ospreys were able to go deep in rotation, allowing younger players who normally don’t see many minutes to play. This included walk-on Christian Schach, who missed his only shot attempt, but produced consistent minutes defensively.

North Florida (7-2) is still tied with Liberty for first in the ASUN with this win. The team will head to Newark to look for revenge against NJIT on Thursday, Feb. 6 at 7:00 p.m.

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