JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – North Florida advanced to its first Atlantic Sun Championship final since 2011 with a 71-57 victory over Lipscomb at home on Thursday night. The Ospreys will host the A-Sun Championship Final on Sunday on ESPN2 at 2:30 p.m.
Dallas Moore scored a career-high 36 points to lead the Ospreys to victory in front of a raucous crowd at UNF Arena. Chris Davenport added 15 points and a team-high nine rebounds as North Florida led the game from start to finish. Jalen Nesbitt played an all-around game with eight rebounds and a team-high five assists.
In the opening minutes of the game, Moore got the Ospreys off and running with two three-pointers as they extended the early lead to 17-9 in the opening six minutes. After stretching the lead to 25-15 at the 8:29 mark of the opening period, both defenses took over to close the half. Moore continued to get into the lane and score tough layups to lead all scorers with 17 points at the break. The Ospreys took a 37-24 lead at the half.
The second stanza started off like the first with a Moore three-pointer to give him his 13th game of 20 points or more this year. The Bisons then started a comeback led by Williams and Hampton who combined for 28 points in the game. A 6-0 Lipscomb run cut the lead down to 45-39 with 9:31 to go in the second half and forced a UNF timeout.
Moore once again had the answer for North Florida as he scored the team's next eight points to reach 31 for the game and give the Ospreys a 53-45 advantage. Senior Jalen Nesbitt then stole the ball at midcourt and threw down a breakaway dunk to give the Ospreys a double-digit lead once again. The Bisons proved pesky once more as they cut the lead down to 57-51 with 3:48 remaining.
The Ospreys iced the game at the free throw line as they went 25-29 today and closed out the Bisons for good for the 71-57 victory. North Florida is back in the A-Sun Championship final for the first time since 2011. They will host the championship for the first time in school history.