UNF FALLS SHORT IN OVERTIME!!!
OPPONENT PREVIEWFSU Overall-81 Offense-81 Defense-82 Shooting-85 Rebounding-85
FSU might be struggling this year with a 4-3 record but one of those loss's was to #3 (8-0) Tennessee and another was a OT loss to Minnesota (85-84) just the night before playing UNF.
This roster is going to be scary good in a couple years if players don't leave early.. . They have a 7'2 Sophomore Center S. Diakate that is a 76 Overall who was the ACC Freshman of the Year last year. a SO SF Tank Warden who is a 71 Overall and a Freshman PG Cruz Conn who is a 73 Overall all starting .
They also have 6'10 SO R. Kanter (71) FR R. Babcokc (70) , FR F. Blanchard (69) and SO B. Rose (68) coming off their bench
GAME RECAP
Already with 1 upset win against a ACC team on their resume, UNF was looking for #2 against FSU but came up short falling to the Seminoles in Overtime. For UNF it was their 2nd straight game going into OT and with a roster struggling with some minor injuries North Florida Coach Ryne Dezaron had to get creative at times with the lineup.
UNF trailed by as many as 12 but battled back in the final minutes of the half as Walkon SR SG Edmund Bowen comes up with a huge 4 point play to cut the lead to 46-43 but Freshman Ryan Babcock (1 of the recruits I lost to FSU) hits a huge 3PT in the final seconds to extend the lead back to 6 points (49-43)
Both teams shot the ball well 73% FG but UNF continued struggles from the FT line was the deciding factor (3/9).
Freshman Floritinio Blanchard (Another recruit I lost out on) lead the Seminoles with 10 points off the bench hitting 5/7 FG.
Ronny Garza led UNF with 10 points well Zam Graves led the bench with 8 points. JC Transfer Torris Dye finished the half with a team high 7 assists.
The 2nd half was a back and forth battle and just like the 1st half, UNF found itself trailing by 6 with under 2 minutes to play but the Osprey never gave up as Dominic Root hits a huge 3pt to tie the game with 1.7 seconds to play in the game to force OT.
UNF down to 8 players with Freshman Manny Dupree and backup guard Carson Thiero on the bench with injuries continued to rely on Walkon Senior Edmund Bowen who came up big playing 7 minutes scoring a season/career high 9 pts hitting another big 3PT in OT that tied the game with under 30 seconds to play.
FSU held the ball for the final possession and the play worked to perfection as FR PG Cruz Conn drives the lane and cashes a floater to give the Seminoles the 2pt lead.
Joe Thomas would take the inbound pass and heave up a 3/4 court shot but it fell short as UNF's 4 game win streak comes to a end.
FINAL SCORE FSU-113 UNF-111
KEY PLAYERS
R. Garza-23 pts 3 reb 4 ast 1/2 3PT
D. Root-18 pts 5 ast 2/5 3PT
Z. Graves-17 pts 1/5 FT 3 turnovers
J. Thomas-15 pts 3/4 3PT, 2/5 FT
C. Ngounou-12 pts 4 reb 4/6 FT
D. Carter-10 pts 4 reb 3 turnovers
E. Bowen-9 pts 2/2 3PT
T. Dye-12 assists 4 steals but just 1 PT
T. Warden-22 pts 4 ast 6 steals 10/16 FG 1/6 3PT
C. Conn-18 pts 9 ast 2/5 3PT
F. Blanchard-17 pts 1/1 3PT
B Rose-16 pts 7/9 FG 2/4 3PT
B. Diawara-10 pts 5 ast
S. Diakhate-8 pts 9 reb
R. Babcock-6 pts 4 reb 2 ast 2 blks
UP NEXT
With the FSU game in the books November comes to a close.. UNF will kickoff December and the rest of their non-conference schedule hosting (2-3) South Florida on Tuesday before taking a flight out to Boise Idaho as Coach Dezaron returns to his Alma Mater to face the (3-2) Boise State Broncos.
UNF will then return home with 5 days off before heading north to New York to play Top-25 ranked Syracuse.
