University of North Florida issued the following announcement on Dec. 11.
Score: North Florida 91, Austin Peay 84
Records: North Florida (3-9) | Austin Peay (4-4)
Location: UNF Arena (Jacksonville, Fla.)
The Short Story: Jose Placer drilled seven three-pointers en route to a career high 35-point effort and led the North Florida men's basketball squad on Saturday afternoon to a 91-84 victory over Austin Peay at UNF Arena.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Jose Placer came out shooting hot from the start scoring 23 of his career best 35 in the first half and finishing the game going 7 of 11 from beyond the 3-point arc | He also shared the team lead with five rebounds
- Jarius Hicklen reached double digits for the second straight game, scoring 14 points including four treys
- Jadyn Parker also finished in double figures, tallying 10 points on a perfect shooting night (4 for 4 from field / 2 for 2 FTs) and also swatted four shots
- Emmanuel Adedoyin led the squad with 5 assists with Dorian James sharing team rebounding honors with five boards
- Former UNF player Cameron Copeland netted 25 points to pace the Govs, who also got a 20-point effort from Elijah Hutchins-Everett
- North Florida shot 58.7% from the floor for the game including 15 of 29 (51.7%) from the three-point line | Ospreys went 22 of 25 (88%) from the FT line
- Austin Peay held a slim 29-24 rebounding advantage
- Both squads held double-digit advantages during the game
NOTABLE MOMENTS
- North Florida got off to a fast start, scoring the first five points on their way to the early 8-4 lead | Placer connected on a pair of threes in the opening flurry
- Austin Peay answered with an 8-0 run to earn their first lead of the game and would extend it to a 10-point margin (27-17) with 10 minutes left in the first period
- Jarius Hicklen drained a three-pointer to halt the Govs run and spark UNF on a 13-2 surge to regain the lead, 30-29 | Placer and Chaz Lanier both had treys during the run along with inside buckets by Jadyn Parker and Jonathan Aybar
- The squads would trade baskets and the lead over the next several minutes until the Ospreys closed the half on a 9-4 run capped by a driving layup from Placer with just seconds left that gave UNF a 45-40 lead at intermission
- The game stayed a one-possession contest for the first five minutes of the second half with both teams finding a flow on the offensive end
- Ospreys would grab some momentum with a 12-4 run that put them in front 61-52 midway through the stanza | Five different players contributed points during the surge
- The Governors refused to quit and chipped away at the deficit, pulling to within two (63-61) with 8 minutes remaining
- Placer made a floater to snap a scoring drought and then Hicklen hit back-to-back treys in a span of 20 seconds to push the lead to 10 and draw a timeout from APSU
- Austin Peay closed the gap to three before watching the Ospreys build the margin back to nine (87-78) with just over a minute to play
- Copeland would make two straight threes to again get the Govs within three points but Placer and Lanier both made a pair of free throws to ice the victory
INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
- North Florida's bench outscored Austin Peay, 32-9
- Ospreys remained undefeated at home (3-0) with the victory
- Streak continued in the series with home team always earning the win (2-2 all-time series record)
- All nine players that got on the floor for UNF scored in the game
- UNF made double-digit three-pointers for the fifth time this year and shot a season best 52% from long range
- Victory marked the 195th for Head Coach Matthew Driscoll at UNF, moving him into a tie for 3rd all-time for wins by a coach in the ASUN
NEXT UP
Following a week break from competition for fall semester exams, North Florida returns to the floor at UNF Arena next Saturday (Dec. 18) for a match-up with Trinity Baptist.
Original source can be found here.
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