COLLEGE BASKETBALL: UNF Osprey men earn sweep over JU Dolphins

The North Florida basketball team made a little bit of history Friday night after posting a 70-64 victory over crosstown rival Jacksonville in its regular season finale at Veterans Memorial Arena.

The Ospreys (16-15, 10-8 ASun) broke the program record for wins in a season, matched the program high for conference wins, established a new season high conference winning percentage and claimed the first regular season sweep of the Dolphins (8-21, 6-12). The win also extended UNF's current win streak to three and marked team's third straight win over JU.

Along with the team milestones, junior Jerron Granberry finished with a team-high 20 points becoming just the sixth player in UNF history to eclipse the 1,000-point mark in a career. Granberry entered the contest just seven points shy of the accomplishment.

Parker Smith added 17 points for the Ospreys, who had nine of their 10 players get in the scoring column in the win. UNF out-rebounded the Dolphins, 32-30, handed out 16 assists and made 18-of-23 free throws (78.3 percent) on the night.

Tevin Galvin finished with 17 points leading a trio of JU players in double digits. The Dolphins posted a 44-24 advantage on points in the paint.

“Our program continues to make unbelievable strides,” said UNF head coach Matthew Driscoll, who has led the team to improved win totals in each of his three seasons at the helm. “Again, the guys showed a great deal of resiliency, confidence and courage in this game. Overall it was another stellar team effort. I thought we played extremely well defensively, especially in the first half. We are definitely playing well and looking forward to getting start with tournament play.”

The Ospreys blitzed out of the gate opening the game with a 15-5 run over the first 10 minutes of play. UNF maintained a comfortable lead for most of the first half holding the Dolphins to just 6-of-18 from the floor. JU also struggled from the free throw line making just 5-for-15.

UNF closed the half with a flurry outscoring JU, 12-4, to build a 33-17 halftime lead. Smith and Granberry combined to score all the points with Smith making three free throws and a trey followed by back-to-back triples from Granberry including his milestone reaching basket. The 17 point output was the fewest points allowed by North Florida in a half this season and also the second fewest points scored in a half by Jacksonville.

The team's geared up the offenses after the break with the Dolphins matching their first half production just nine minutes into the second half, but UNF still led by 18 points, 49-31. JU surged with nine consecutive points to trim the Osprey lead to just nine over the next two minutes.

Matt Sauey and Travis Wallace made layups to turn back the JU rally and Smith drilled a trey at the end of the shot clock minutes later to push UNF back in front by 13. A couple of late buckets for the Dolphins made the final score a little closer.

North Florida finishes in fourth-place in the Atlantic Sun standings, the best finish in school history. The Ospreys open play in the upcoming General Shale Atlantic Sun Tournament at 2:30 p.m. on Thursday (Mar. 1) against the winner of Saturday's ETSU-FGCU game. UNF will be No. 4 seed with a FGCU victory and No. 5-seed with an ETSU win.