Florida Sports Wire

By MIKE BONTS (FLORIDA SPORTS WIRE) TALLAHASSEE, Fla. --   FSU finished the regular season 12-0 for the second consecutive season with a 24-19 come from behind win against Florida Saturday. It was Will Muschamp's last game as head coach of the Gators. “I’m just upset about the loss right now. The other stuff – Carol and I are excited about the next step I can assure you of that. Carol and Jackson and Whit and I are fired up about the next step and that is what we are looking forward to," Muschamp said. "I am extremely disappointed for our football team right now. They’ve got a good team, they did a good job. We had our opportunities and didn’t get it done. Florida (6-5) blocked a punt in he final minute of the first half and converted the turnover into their first touchdown of the game on QB Treon Harris' 15-yard pass to Clay Burton to pull within five points. Harris was 13 of 31 passing for 169 yards and two interceptions. He was also Florida's

ATHENS, Ga. --  Yet another Georgia Tech-Georgia clash came down to the wire, and this time the Yellow Jackets survived in a Peach State thriller. Zach Laskey's third touchdown run of the day accounted for the only score in overtime, and the 16th-ranked Yellow Jackets escaped Sanford Stadium with a memorable 30-24 victory over the No. 8 Bulldogs. The roller-coaster finish saw Georgia Tech give up a go-ahead touchdown with 18 seconds left in regulation, only to have Harrison Butker force OT with a clutch 53-yard field goal. Butker's extra point in overtime was blocked, but D.J. White picked off Hutson Mason on the ensuing possession to give Georgia Tech (10-2) its first win over its in-state rival since 2008. "It was a really crazy game," said Georgia Tech head coach Paul Johnson. "I am so proud of our players." The Yellow Jackets, who will play Florida State for ACC crown, had lost 12 of the previous 13 meetings with Mark Richt as Georg

STANFORD, Calif. – The Florida soccer team saw its season end at Stanford Friday on a penalty kick decision in front of sell-out crowd of 1,900 at the Laird Q. Cagan Stadium. Florida and Staford played to a 2-2 double overtime tie, forcing penalty kicks to determine which team would advance to the NCAA College Cup. A 4-3 penalty kick advantage sends the Cardinal to their sixth NCAA College Cup of the last seven season (2008, ’09, ’10, ’11, ’12, ’14). Stanford now advances to play Florida State in NCAA semifinal action next Friday at the FAU Stadium in Boca Raton, Florida FSU advances with a 5-0 win over South Carolina Friday afternoon in Tallahassee.  Florida State was the 2013 NCAA runner-up with a 1-0 overtime loss to UCLA. The Bruins will not be back to defend their 2013 NCAA title, falling 2-1 to Virginia Friday in Los Angeles. In Friday’s NCAA Quarterfinal action, Stanford struck quickly in the fourth minute when Chioma Ubogagu put a cross across the face of the goal. F

By Mike Bonts, GATORS INSIDER Kennedy Meeks led North Carolina with 18 points and 13 rebounds as the No. 5 Tar Heels defeated 18th-ranked Florida, 75-64, in the fifth-place game of the Battle 4 Atlantis on Friday. Marcus Paige scored 16 points, Brice Johnson had 10 and seven rebounds and Justin Jackson and J.P. Tokoto chipped in 12 and 10 points, respectively. Kasey Hill had a game and career-high 20 points and Michael Frazier finished with 17 points and nine rebounds for the Gators, who have dropped two of their last three games. North Carolina opened the game on a 12-0 run, capped off by Marcus Paige with 14:00 minutes left in the first half. The Tar Heels held the lead the entire game. Florida converted on 18-of-23 free throws and entered this week ranked 18th in the country in free throw percentage (76.8).  With tonight’s 75-64 win, UNC holds the all-time series lead, 4-2, including 1-1 under head coach Billy Donovan. The only meeting during Donovan’s tenure came in the

NEW YORK, N.Y. ---  Georgia’s comeback attempt came up just short as the Bulldogs fell to 3-3 overall with a 66-62 loss against Minnesota in the NIT Season Tip-Off third place game at Madison Square Garden in New York on Friday. The Bulldogs fought back from a 12-point halftime deficit and came to within three with under a minute remaining, but were unable to cap off the come-from-behind victory over Minnesota (4-2). A three by J.J. Frazier cut Minnesota’s lead to seven with just over 11 minutes on the clock and put the score at 46-39 after trailing 37-25 at halftime. Frazier and Nemanja Djurisic each hit a three with under one minute remaining to cut the lead to three, but Minnesota’s DeAndre Mathieu hit one-of-two free throws with 10.1 seconds remaining to seal the final score at 66-62. “We had 15 turnovers in the first half and only 16 shots,” Georgia head coach Mark Fox said. “We just did not start well. And finally [J.J.] Frzier gave us great leadership at the point a

SAN FRANCISCO— The Arizona Wildcats captured their first Pac-12 South Division title as they defeated rival Arizona State in the Territorial Cup, 42-35. Arizona will face the Oregon Ducks from the North Division in the fourth annual Pac-12 Football Championship Game on Friday, December 5. Following Stanford’s 31-10 victory at UCLA to eliminate the Bruins from the Pac-12 South Division race, the path was cleared for the winner of the Arizona-Arizona State game to advance to the Pac-12 Championship Game. Arizona captured the South title after finishing the regular season with a 7-2 Pac-12 record, 10-2 overall. Oregon (7-1, 10-1), had previously captured the North Division title and will conclude the regular season Saturday at Oregon State. The Pac-12 Championship Game will be televised by FOX at 6 p.m. PT/9 p.m. ET.

Gators Insider Tallahassee, Fla - The top-ranked Florida State Seminoles take aim at their second straight undefeated regular season, as the close out the 2014 schedule against rival Florida on Saturday at Doak Campbell Stadium. Jimbo Fisher's Seminoles have certainly not won games pretty this season, but they have continued to stay unblemished, running the nation's longest current win streak to 27 games with last week's 20-17 win over Boston College.  The Seminoles have won the ACC Atlantic Division and will play Georgia Tech in the ACC Championship Game. FSU does not hold the top spot in the College Football Playoff rankings, but is in the top four, where it should stay barring a loss. It has been a different story at Florida, as the Gators were never really relevant in the SEC this season. The team is 6-4 on the year and 4-4 in conference play, but it is considered a sub-par year by Florida standards.  The team enters off a 52-3 rout of FCS foe Eastern

By Shawn Clarke, Contributing NFL Editor The New York Giants were feeling good after three straight wins for a 3-2 start in early October. Then the wheels began to fall off one at a time. New York hopes to earn some respect and stop a six-game losing streak Sunday on the road against the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Giants lost their first six games of the 2013 season and haven't suffered seven straight losses since an eight-game slide from Nov. 7 - Dec. 26, 2004.  It was head coach Tom Coughlin's first season in the Big Apple and the Giants went 6-10 that year. It looks as if the G-men are headed to another disappointing finish and can point fingers in all directions as to why 2014 has been a dud. Quarterback Eli Manning and his interception issue (12), a poor running game (99.3 ypg) and even more porous defense under coordinator Perry Fewell. Fewell could be looking for a new job at season's end. His unit is 24th in passing yards allowed (253.9), 27t

The 18th-ranked Florida Gators got an unexpected boost from freshman Chris Chiozza, who came off the bench and supplied 13 points with six steals in Florida's 56-47 win over UAB in the second round of the Battle 4 Atlantis. Chiozza, who went scoreless in Wednesday's overtime loss to Georgetown in round 1, had scored just 19 points in his collegiate career prior to Thursday's win. The reserve guard made three of Florida's seven 3-pointers, including consecutive triples during a crucial stretch midway through the second half. Tosin Mehinti made a layup around Chiozza's 3s and UAB scored the next five points to tie the game at 39. The Blazers led by two after Mehinti split a pair of free throws out of the final media timeout. But Florida climbed in front when Chris Walker and Jon Horford made two free throws and Kasey Hill had a layup with 1 1/2 minutes to play. After Hakeem Baxter missed twice at the rim out of a timeout, Dorian Finney- Smith's du

TAMPA, NOV. 28, 2014  – The USF defense posted a shutout in the second half, but the Bulls weren’t able to cash in on three turnovers in a 16-0 loss to UCF before a Senior Day crowd of 36,963 at Raymond James Stadium on Friday afternoon. “We had opportunities in that football game that we didn’t take advantage of and it cost us,” head coach Willie Taggart said. “We had penalties that cost us in that game, things you can’t do against a winning football team. And we didn’t make the plays we needed to make to win the game.” UCF (8-3, 6-1) came in averaging 29 points and 363.7 yards per game before the Bulls (4-8, 3-5) limited the Knights to 295 total yards and 131 yards in the second half. Junior safety Jamie Byrd (Dade City, Fla.) started the turnover trend with an interception at the beginning of the third quarter and junior defensive end Demetrius Hill (Kankakee, Ill.) and sophomore linebacker Nigel Harris (Tampa) followed with fumble recoveries. “They got turnovers for u

By MIKE BONTS GATORS INSIDER (NASSAU, Bahamas) -  D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera hit a pull-up jumper with 3.4 seconds left in overtime and Georgetown beat 18th-ranked Florida 66-65 in the opening round of the Battle 4 Atlantis. Following 21 lead changes and 10 ties throughout the game, Georgetown (4-0) won the game on the Smith-Rivera jumper after being down one point, 65-64, on its final possession. Kasey Hill helped the Gators gain that one point advantage on a three-point-play that included a layup and made free throw with 12 seconds left. To force overtime, Jacob Kurtz stood his ground and forced a charging foul on the defensive end with the game tied at 53-53 and 35 seconds left.  On the ensuing possession, Eli Carter had a layup blocked with three seconds to go in regulation. After Florida led 22-21 with 6:05 remaining in the first half, GU closed the half on a 10-4 run and led the Gators, 31-27 at intermission. Florida ( 2-2) held Georgetown to 26 percent  (6-of-23) fro

ST. AUGUSTINE – Teosha Ray scored a team-high 13 points to help lead a balanced Flagler College attack in a 66-49 win over the University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez in a non-conference women’s basketball game Wednesday night at Flagler Gymnasium. Flagler improved to 2-3 overall while Puerto Rico-Mayaguez dropped to 1-4. Ray made three of her five 3-point attempts and was a perfect 4-for-4 from the free throw line. She added six rebounds. Treva Mason added 11 points and grabbed a game-high nine rebounds. Jasmine Celestin, Ditara Pack and Parker  Nayman each contributed eight points. DeAsha Campbell tallied seven points, three assists and four steals. Allie Mano collected five steals. Alex Alford registered a game-high five assists. The Saints forced 30 turnovers but were only able to cash those in for 13 points. Flagler out-rebounded UPR-Mayaguez 43-30. The Saints bench scored 32 of the team’s 66 points. All 13 players for Flagler played in the game. Yaileen Medina scored a game-hig

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- It was a picture-perfect night in the Stephen C. O'Connell Center on Thanksgiving Eve as the 2014 SEC volleyball champions capped off the program's 13th undefeated SEC season with a sweep of South Carolina (25-19, 25-9, 25-20).  The No. 6 Gators (24-3, 18-0 SEC) celebrated their three seniors, Maddy Monserez, Holly Pole and Taylor Unroe, in a pre-match ceremony, and were presented with the program's 21st SEC trophy in a post-match celebration. Four Gators -- including Player and Freshman of the Year Alex Holston (12) and Rhamat Alhassan (13), All-SEC middle Simone Antwi (10) and standout outside hitter Carli Snyder (10), all put down double-digit kills thanks to All-SEC junior setter Mackenzie Dagostino's 46 assists and stellar ball distribution, leading the Orange and Blue to their 19th straight win and 13th conference sweep of the campaign.  Florida dropped just five sets in SEC play and racked up its 13th undefeated conference slate in prog

ST. AUGUSTINE – Lydell Manigo scored a team-high 21 points and grabbed nine rebounds to help Flagler College fend off a frantic rally by the University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez and escape with an 82-80 overtime win in a non-conference men’s basketball game Wednesday night at Flagler Gymnasium. Flagler remains undefeated with a 4-0 record while Puerto Rico-Mayaguez fell to 1-5. It was Jerrell Oxendine who drained a 3-pointer with five seconds left to go in overtime to erase a one-point deficit and give the Saints an 82-80 lead. Matt Clark took a hand-off low in the paint, slipped, but found Oxendine open for the shot. The Tarzans could not get a shot off in time after a 30-second timeout with three seconds left. Manigo made 8 of 14 from the field and sank three 3-pointers. Oxendine added 16 points and six rebounds while Dennis Diaz chipped in with 12 points, 10 of which came in the first half. De’Aires Tate grabbed a season-high 15 rebounds with eight of those coming in the second half

NEW YORK --- - Kyle Wiltjer scored 32 points as 10th-ranked Gonzaga built a big early lead and held off repeated Georgia challenges to defeat the Bulldogs 88-76 in the NIT Season Tip-Off here Wednesday night. Georgia will now play Minnesota, which lost the other semifinal game to hometown team St. John's, on Friday at 4:30 p.m. at Madison Square Garden. The game will be televised on ESPNU. Gonzaga needed less than four minutes to build its lead into double digits. The  West Coast Bulldogs scored on three of their first four possessions, two buckets coming from Wiltjer, a junior in his first season at Gonzaga after transferring from Kentucky. The Zags' fast start basically proved to be the difference in the game. "We didn't get off to a very good start but after that, we played it pretty nose to nose," said Georgia coach Mark Fox. "We made it a point to try to take away the three-point line, which we did and we knew when we did that, they were really good

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Jacksonville used a pair of defensive stands in the second half to cruise to its second win of the season, a 69-57 victory over Trinity Baptist at Swisher Gym on Wednesday. The Dolphins first (2-4) first showed their defensive might with a 15-3 run that spanned 9:12 to end the first half and start the second. After taking a 32-30 lead with 2:45 to go in the first half, the Dolphins held the Eagles (4-5) to only three points until the 13:33 mark in the second. As the defense did its work, Jacksonville's Kori Babineaux and Tim Gill led a scoring parade that put the Dolphins up 47-33. From there, Jacksonville pulled out to a 15-point lead, 53-38, with 12:02 to play. The Eagles pulled back to within seven, but the Dolphins sealed the deal with another defensive stand that held Trinity Baptist to only six points in the last 6:12 of the game. Four Dolphins scored in double figures with junior Anders Misters leading the way with 19 points. Sopho

JACKSONVILLE, Fla.  - The Armada FC, Jacksonville's new professional North American Soccer League (NASL) team, will play its inaugural soccer match against the Philadelphia Union at EverBank Field on Saturday, Feb. 7, 2015 at 5 p.m. Armada FC owner and CEO Mark Frisch joined with city leaders in Jacksonville to make the announcement on the preseason fixture - the first competitive match in the new club's history - which will be part of Armada FC's season ticket package currently on sale starting at $10 per seat. "We are delighted to be able to announce our inaugural match against Philadelphia Union of Major League Soccer to be played here in Jacksonville at EverBank Field on February 7," Frisch said. "We've teamed up with the City of Jacksonville to make this match a reality, and I think that it's fitting that we kickoff our professional history against a team of the Union's standing." "We are thrilled to return to Jacksonvi

The Jacksonville Sharks announced that the team has made another significant addition via free agency, as All-Arena offensive lineman Wayne Tribue has been assigned to the Jacksonville roster on a one-year contract. “Wayne is a very talented player who quickly established himself as one of the top offensive linemen in our league,” Sharks head coach Les Moss said. “He brings both youth and proven ability to our pass-protection unit, and we’re excited to have him as part of our team in 2015.”  The 24-year-old Tribue (6’3”, 330) enters his second season in the Arena Football League after breaking into the AFL with the Philadelphia Soul in 2014. Though just a rookie this past season, Tribue emerged as a force along the line in his 15 starts, earning All-Arena Second Team honors for his consistent play with Philadelphia.