TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (Dec. 11) - Hot-shooting North Florida scored 60 first half points Monday, then hung on for a 101-89 men's basketball victory over Florida A&M in the Al Lawson Center.
The visiting Ospreys (4-7) bolted out of the gate in the Monday's first half, splashing 11 of 20 three-point shots, while shooting a blistering 63.2 percent from the floor overall (24 of 38), to pull away to a 60-41 halftime lead.
FAMU (1-11) picked up the pace in the second half, knocking down 6 of 12 three-pointers, while shooting 48.6 percent overall, to 45.5 percent for UNF, which managed to hit 5 of 15 shots from distance.
The Rattlers actually cut the Ospreys' lead to single digits at 67-59 with 14:08 left on a pair of Nick Severado foul shots, then they closed to seven points on a free throw by Desmond Williams with 12:31 left, making the count 69-62.
But the Ospreys found their shooting touch again, racing off on a 13-1 scoring jag to build the lead to 19 points, 82-63 with 9:41 left.
FAMU finished the game, outscoring UNF, 26-19, but it proved too little, too late.
Marcus Barham led all scorers with 30 points for FAMU, highlighted by a 5 of 9 three-point shooting effort, whikle Desmond Williams added 27 points.
The Ospreys placed five players in double figure scoring wise, led by Ivan Gandia-Rosa with 21 points and Garrett Sams with 20 points.
WHAT'S NEXT: FAMU returns to the road to close out December, heading to Baton Rouge, Louisiana to face the Southern Univrsity Jaguars Thursday night at 6:30 p.m. Central Time. Sunday, FAMU is at Georgia Tech (4:00 p.m.) in Atlanta, then heads to the Big Apple, New York City for a Thursday, Dec. 21 bout against Fordham. FAMU closes their grueling 16-game non-conference slate on Friday, Dec. 29 at Ball State (7:00 p.m.) in Muncie, Ind.
