Florida Sports Wire

The University of North Florida (21-10, 10-4) scored four  points in the final 10 seconds of the game, escaping with an 81-80 win over  Jacksonville University (16-15, 8-6 A-Sun) Thursday in the Historic Swisher Gym. UNF made history by earning their second straight Atlantic Sun Conference regular season title. "I am extremely proud of our guys and the history they made tonight," said head coach Matthew Driscoll. "We made it harder on ourselves than it should have been but I loved the way they really trusted each other and kept battling to earn a tough road victory. I thought in the final minutes, the guys really rose up and made some huge plays down the stretch to get the victory. We are thrilled to have accomplished one of our goals for the season and now turn our attention to the next phase of the year... postseason play." Dallas Moore led the way for UNF scoring 22 points including 8 of the team's final 11 points in the first half, helping the Ospreys

From www.vucommodores.com GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) -- If Vanderbilt makes the NCAA Tournament, the Commodores probably will be able to point to two circus shots against Florida.  Damian Jones scored a career-high 27 points, Jeff Roberson added 18 points and 10 rebounds and Vandy beat the Gators 87-74 Tuesday night for a resume-building road win.  "Damian was obviously spectacular," Vandy coach Kevin Stallings said. "Jeff Roberson was spectacular."  Wade Baldwin IV chipped in 13 for Vanderbilt (17-11, 9-6 Southeastern Conference), which won for the fourth time in five games. Stallings' team also snapped a four-game skid in Gainesville.  Although the Gators (17-11, 8-7) had no answer for Jones inside -- he made 12 of 13 shots -- the biggest difference may have been two amazing shots the Commodores made.  Trailing 37-35 in the final seconds of the first half, Florida looked like it would tie the game. But Schuyler Rimmer had an easy layup blocked, and Jo

By MIKE BONTS Jacksonville SportsDay The Jacksonville Armada FC of the North American Soccer League (NASL) overcame Kaká’s first-half free kick goal to post a 2-1 preseason win over the Major League Soccer’s (MLS) Orlando City SC last Saturday night at Community First Park. “All due respect to their organization, but if anybody says it’s a friendly game and they didn’t care to get the win, obviously I would have to disagree with that,” said Armada goalkeeper Miguel Gallardo. “You could see the intensity those guys were playing with — especially in the first half. They were getting upset when they weren’t getting calls or when my teammates would steal the ball.” The Armada second half offense was highlighted by scoring on a free kick from defender Mechack Jérôme. Then a long strike from forward Alhassane Keita that beat goal keeper Earl Edwards Jr. to secure the second preseason win in as many matches. Both against MLS clubs. “The last thing we said coming out of the locker

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- The NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series returns to the swamps of Gainesville, Fla., March 17-20, for the AMALIE Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals – the third event of the 2016 NHRA Mello Yello season.                 Fans in the Sunshine State will be in for a treat at the circuit’s traditional East Coast opener at Gainesville Raceway as the world’s best drag racers power their 10,000 horsepower, fire-breathing machines down the strip in pursuit of championship points and early-season momentum.  Spencer Massey (Top Fuel), Ron Capps (Funny Car), Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) and Karen Stoffer (Pro Stock Motorcycle) were last year’s winners of the event that will be televised on FOX Sports 1, including live finals coverage at 1 p.m. (ET). The excitement and energy of NHRA racing on the track will be as adrenaline-pumping as ever, but in 2016, the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series is shifting gears and venturing boldly into a brand new era. It’s one of the most eag

ALLEN ROBINSON (15) By MIKE BONTS Jacksonville SportsDay Coming off a 5-11 record last season the Jacksonville Jaguars unveiled off field plans at last month’s State of the Franchise presentation. Owner Shad Khan and president Mark Lamping unveiled designs and details for three new projects for EverBank Field, as well as the club’s 2016 ticket pricing. “All of us are proud to take this opportunity to give our fans and partners a crystal clear look into where the Jacksonville Jaguars are as a franchise, and where we plan to be in the future.  And we plan to be in Jacksonville,” Khan said.  “But, we don’t want to be a franchise, on or off the field, that merely exists.  We want to thrive and be respected.   The stadium improvements include a complete re-imagining of the US Assure Clubs, a covered Flex Field and an amphitheater. All were approved unanimously by Jacksonville City Council in December. US Assure Clubs - The design includes the installation of a glass wall betw

From www.HurricaneSports.com TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Sheldon McClellan scored 20 points and No. 12 Miami fought off a second-half rally from Florida State to win 67-65 on Sunday night. The Hurricanes led by four with less than a minute remaining when Dwayne Bacon's 3-pointer brought the Seminoles to 66-65. After Davon Reed missed a 3, Florida State had a chance to go ahead but Devon Bookert was short on a 3-pointer from the corner. Ja'Quan Newton hit one of two free throws for Miami, leaving Florida State one last chance, but Malik Beasley missed a 30-footer that would have won it. Reed had 14 points and Angel Rodriguez scored 11 for the Hurricanes (20-4, 9-3 Atlantic Coast Conference), who secured their fourth 20-win season in Jim Larranaga's five years as coach. Bookert led Florida State (16-9, 6-7) with 14 points, and Xavier Rathan-Mayes had 12. Bacon and Beasley, who came into the game averaging a combined 33.2 points as the ACC's top freshman duo, were h

From  www.HurricaneSports.com     CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) -- Angel Rodriguez scored on an offensive rebound with 1.4 seconds left Tuesday, and the No. 12-ranked Miami Hurricanes edged Pittsburgh 65-63. With the game tied, the Hurricanes missed two shots in the final 6 seconds and Pitt's Ryan Luther batted the ball before Rodriguez charged into the lane and slapped it into the basket with his left hand. That was the only offensive rebound of the game for the 5-foot-11 Rodriguez, who had 17 points and eight assists. The Hurricanes (19-4, 8-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) trailed by eight points in the first half but won for the sixth time in the past seven games. Pittsburgh (17-6, 6-5) has lost two straight for the first time this season. Pitt overcame a 55-49 deficit and took its final lead at 58-57 on Sheldon Jeter's fast-break dunk. Miami went ahead 63-58, but the Panthers tied it on James Robinson's 3-pointer with 31 seconds left. The Hurricanes then ran the clock

Jacksonville SportsDay JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Jacksonville's Charles Eloundou scored late in the match to give the Armada FC a 1-0 preseason victory over MLS foe Philadelphia at Community First Park Saturday night. Eloundou took a pass from Akeil Barrett and curled it over the Union goal keeper for the score. Jacksonville new head coach Tony Meola’s debuted a formation and new signings during the rain soaked contest. The Armada introduced with five defenders, including new signings Tyler Ruthven, Beto Navarro and Bryan Burke. The Armada will be back in action next Saturday when they host another MLS club, Orlando City SC, at 6 p.m.  Tickets, starting at $10, can be purchased by calling 1.844.2.ARMADA or visiting armadafc.com/tickets.

DELAND, Fla. – Jacksonville University men’s basketball team needed overtime to stretch its win streak to five games, but in the end the Dolphins (15-11, 7-2 A-Sun) emerged victorious, 96-88, over Stetson (9-16, 3-6 A-Sun) on Saturday. “We’re now playing unselfishly and taking the shots we can make, which has led to our success,” said Head Coach Tony Jasick. “This is a unique environment to play in here at Stetson, and a lot of people struggle here, but I give a lot of credit to our guys who continued to play tough, even when we were struggling. I’d love to be that blue collar team in the league that’s hard to score on, that will fight you, and that has some toughness, and I think we’ve started that process with this club.” The Hatters struck first in overtime, sinking two free throws to take a 79-77 lead. JU came back with a 10-0 run, taking an 87-79 lead. Stetson would come within six with a little over a minute remaining, but JU would sink several clutch free throws to put the

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Former Florida State All-Americans Roberto Aguayo and Jalen Ramsey outperformed the competition winning their respective event at the 2016 Quicken Loans All-Star Football Challenge.  The event, held at AT&T Stadium in Dallas, Texas on Feb. 2, is an exciting skills competition featuring some of college football’s brightest stars. Aguayo won the Speed Kick competition with 323 points defeating UCLA’s Ka’imi Fairbairn (278 points) and Georgia’s Marshall Morgan (220 points).  The Mascotte, Fla., native posted a perfect score connecting on all seven kicks inside a minute. Aguayo converted a pair of field goals from 40, 45 and 50 yards and his final kick from 53 yards out. Ramsey displayed his speed and agility to capture the PlayStation Hands Competition completing the event with a time of 27.4 seconds. The Smyrna, Tenn., native edged Baylor wide receiver Corey Coleman, who finished the event in 27.6 seconds. Notre Dame wide receiver Will Fuller finished third

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. –  The Jacksonville Armada FC announced on Thursday the transfer of 2015 USL Most Valuable Player and Golden Boot winner Matt Fondy from Louisville City FC. The 26-year-old striker, along with Armada FC defender Bryan Burke, who signed with Jacksonville in December, helped lead Louisville City to the Eastern Conference final in its first season in the league. He scored 22 goals, six of which were game-winners, and notched seven assists after starting every league match. “Matt Fondy is a guy who is hungry to score goals,” said  Tony Meola , Armada FC head coach and technical director. “He proved last year in the USL that he has a knack for scoring goals by leading the league, and we’re confident that will translate to the NASL and our efforts here in Jacksonville.” His goal mark from 2015 shattered the league’s previous high mark of 20. A 6-foot-1 native of Foster City, Calif., Fondy was also named to the All-USL first team. Before making the move to Louisvil

By MIKE BONTS Jacksonville SportsDay TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Florida State football program signed 18 recruits on Wednesday during National Signing Day that, along with the seven early enrollees already on campus, helped the Seminoles earn its fifth Top 3 finish in the recruiting rankings in Jimbo Fisher’s seven seasons. "Very happy with the group we've got. Very proud of our coaches. I think our coaches did an outstanding job of building these relationships. A lot of these relationships are two, three, and four-year relationships. Spent a lot of time, a lot of hard-fought battles," Fisher said.  Florida State’s 2016 class ranks as the best in the nation by ESPN and second in the country by 247Sports and Rivals. According to Rivals, the 19 four- and five-star recruits for Florida State are two more than the second most in the nation (Ohio State). "It's a very unique group and if you can go back and look at this class, it's 25 signees, 13 kids in the st

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The North Florida basketball team suffered their first loss of 2016 as Stetson outlasted the Ospreys for an 86-82 victory Monday night at UNF Arena. UNF (18-7, 7-1 ASUN) saw several streaks come to an end with the loss to an energized Hatters (9-15, 3-5) squad. The Ospreys 18-game home win streak, eight-game overall win streak and nine-game win streak versus Stetson were all halted. Dallas Moore led the way for the Ospreys finishing with 25 points including four three-pointers and 10-for-20 shooting from the floor. Beau Beech nearly had a double-double tallying 15 points and nine rebounds, but was saddled with four fouls early in the second half along with teammates Demarcus Daniels and Chris Davenport, as UNF was unable to have continuity with its lineup. Sophomore Nick Malonga scored 14 points and had a career best seven boards as a spark for the Ospreys. Derick Newton topped the Hatters with 22 points including the decisive three-point play in the closin

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – The No. 12 University of Florida men’s golf team used some of its lowest scores of the year on Monday to build a 19-stroke lead and place four Gators in the top five entering the final round of play at the Sea Best Invitational. The Orange and Blue posted a season-best round of 15-under 265 to open the day at TPC Sawgrass’ Dye’s Valley Course. The squad then recorded a 2-under 278 in the afternoon to wrap up the day with a total of -17 (543). The 265 tied for the lowest round score in school history and is Florida’s best team round in relation to par since 2010. Freshman Sam Horsfield and sophomore Alejandro Tosti are tied for second with a total of 7-under 133. Each recorded the best round of his Gator career in the morning, with Horsfield posting a 5-under 65 and Tosti carding a 6-under 64. Horsfield shot -2 (68) in the afternoon, highlighted by an eagle on the par-5 first hole, while Tosti totaled -1 (69) in Round 2. The pair sit one stroke back of le