FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 2-11-04

Men's College Basketball: AASU 55, North Florida 52

Release Courtesy of UNF Sports Information

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Armstrong Atlantic State’s Brian Bain hit six of his 13 free throws in the final minute of play to thwart any hopes the University of North Florida basketball team had of a comeback in a 55-52 victory Wednesday night at the UNF Arena.

Armstrong Atlantic (16-6, 7-4 PBC) put together a 5-0 run late in the second half to grab a 39-35 advantage and never relinquished the lead after that. UNF (12-10, 4-7 PBC) made a run of its own in the final minute to cut the AASU lead to 51-48, then pulled within three again after an Anthony Earl lay up with 2 seconds to play.

UNF turned on the defensive pressure after the Earl lay up, but AASU snuck in a time out before the Osprey defense could draw a five second call. AASU was able to get the ball in after the timeout, preserving the win.

The Armstrong victory snapped UNF’s three-game winning streak.

Donny Lotz led UNF with 14 points on the evening to go along with eight rebounds. Derrick Scott followed Lotz with 12 points, while Earl had eight.

Bain led all scorers with 27 points, as he hit 13-of-16 shots from the foul line. Bryan Taylor was the next highest scorer with nine for the Pirates.

The Ospreys took an early lead in the first half, before Nick Bloemhof tied the game with his only three-pointer of the contest. After a 7-1 UNF run gave the Ospreys an 18-12 advantage, AASU tied the game at 18-18 and went ahead 24-22 at the half when Bain nailed a three-pointer at the buzzer.

Bain was 6-of-12 for the game and 2-of-5 beyond the arc.

Armstrong Atlantic out-rebounded UNF 35-33 and turned the ball over 20 times, compared to 18 UNF turnovers.

AASU is next in action on Saturday at Columbus State in a 3:00 p.m. matchup.

-Pirates-