College basketball week ahead; UNF can bounce back from loss to EKU at home against Lipscomb
The University of North Florida’s 89-76 loss at Eastern Kentucky on Saturday wasn’t critical – although it would have been nice to build on a 53-50 lead with 14:00 left or seize the momentum that a 3-pointer by senior forward Jake van der Heijden with 12:26 remaining that could have created.
At that point, the Ospreys trailed 62-60 and it was anyone’s game with a share of first place in the ASUN on the plate for UNF.
The Colonels had other ideas.
EKU outscored the Ospreys 27-16 over the final 12 minutes and won at the Baptist Health Arena in Richmond, Ky., to remain alone in first in the ASUN with a 7-0 record and dropping UNF (12-10) into a second-place tie at 5-2 with Stetson.
After van der Heijden’s 3-pointer to make it a two-point game, UNF made only 2 of 9 from beyond the arc and shot 7 of 17 overall for the rest of the game. The Ospreys also had four turnovers during that span.
Devontae Blanton scored 10 of his 17 points during that span. EKU also made its last 13 free-throw attempts and made 20 of 25 overall, while UNF got to the line only eight times, making six.
Freshman point guard Jaylen Smith had a career-high 19 points for the Ospreys, matched by junior guard Chaz Lanier.
UNF is still in the running for a high seed in the conference tournament and one and possibly more home games. Wednesday’s games will mark the halfway point of the league schedule and the Ospreys have four of their next five games at UNF Arena.
Dolphins had two more setbacks
Jacksonville University, on the other hand, is facing an early elimination from the ASUN tournament (10 of the top 12 teams qualify). The Dolphins' 69-63 loss to Bellarmine on Saturday at Louisville's Freedom Hall dropped them to 1-6 and was the Knights’ first league win.
JU dug too deep a hole. The Dolphins trailed Bellarmine 36-19 at halftime before going on a 23-8 run to start the second half, sparked by sophomore guard Robert McCray V (10 of his game-high 23 points).
The Dolphins finally overhauled the Knights with 3-pointers by junior guard Gyasi Powell, senior guard Jarius Cook and McCray, and a free throw by sophomore forward Stephon Payne III to give JU a 56-55 lead with 4:27 left. But Garrett Tipton countered with two foul shots 10 seconds later, Langdon Hatton hit a 3 and Bellarmine never trailed again.
Men: Destin-ed to score
Player of the week: Flagler junior guard Destin Clark scored 44 points and shot 18 of 25 from the floor (72.0 percent) in two Peach Belt Conference victories for the Saints. He had 22 points in each game (victories of 88-85 over Columbus State and 97-68 over USC-Beaufort) and added 17 rebounds and six assists. Clark has averaged 21.8 points and 7.3 points over his last six games (Flagler is 5-1 in that span) and is shooting 54.5 percent.
Stat line of the week: In Lanier’s 33-point output on Thursday against Bellarmine, a career-high, he made 11 of 18 from the floor and 6 of 12 from the 3-point arc.
This week’s games
Monday
Jan. 29
Edward Waters at Benedict College (S.C.), 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday
Austin Peay at Jacksonville, 7 p.m.
Lipscomb at North Florida, 7 p.m.
Flagler at Lander (S.C.), 7:30 p.m.
Edward Waters at Allen University (S.C.), 7:30 p.m.
Thursday
Trinity Baptist at Bob Jones (S.C), 8 p.m.
Saturday
Trinity Baptist at Toccoa Falls (Ga.), 3 p.m.
Flagler at North Georgia, 3:30 p.m.
Jacksonville at Lipscomb, 5 p.m.
Allen University (S.C.) at Edward Waters, 5 p.m.
North Florida at Austin Peay, 5:15 p.m.
Noting UNF (12-10, 5-2 ASUN): Lanier has scored 19 points or more in six conference games this season. ... The Ospreys play host to Lipscomb on Wednesday. UNF hasn’t beaten the Bison at home since the last regular-season meeting in 2020. Lipscomb rebounded 12 days later to win an ASUN tournament game at UNF, 73-71.
Noting JU (10-11, 1-6 ASUN): The Dolphins got off to horrid starts outside the arc in their two games last week, shooting a combined 2 for 20 in the loss to Bellarmine, and a 75-59 loss at Eastern Kentucky. ... McCray scored 44 points and shot 17 of 26 (65.3 percent) in the two games. ... Coach Jordan Mincy, trying to find a combination that works, has started 12 players this season. Josiah Sabino of Orange Park got his second start of the season against Bellarmine but went 0-of-4 from the floor.
Noting Edward Waters (8-10, 7-4 SIAC): Freshman forward Amari Floyd made two foul shots with 22 seconds left to give the Tigers a 79-78 victory over Morehouse. Junior guard Goliath Mitchell led EWC with 21 points and junior forward Kristian Ford had 19 points and eight rebounds. ... The Tigers lost their shooting touch in a 62-59 home loss on Saturday to Savannah State, shooting 2 of 15 from beyond the arc. Mitchell and Ford had 11 points each.
Noting Trinity Baptist (7-7, 3-4 NCCAA Region II South): Junior guard Xavier Rose was dishing it in two games last week. He had 12 assists (and eight points and five rebounds) in Thursday’s 91-82 victory at Trinity College and handed out nine assists (with 12 points and six rebounds) in Saturday’s 88-75 home victory over New College. ... Sophomore guard Diego Fernandez scored 30 points on 10 of 16 shooting against New College and had 15 points and eight rebounds vs. Trinity. ... The Eagles have won four of seven in January.
Noting Flagler (12-6, 5-3 Peach Belt): The Saints are shooting 50.8 percent and holding their opponents to 38.8 percent during their current five-game winning streak. ... Junior guard Omar Figueroa came off the bench in the victory over USC-Beaufort to score 31 points, including 7 of 10 from beyond the arc. ... Clark and junior guard Jalen Barr combined to shoot 31 of 43 from the floor in last week’s games (72.1)
Women: Battle-worthy victory for the Dolphins
Player of the week: Jacksonville junior guard Edyn Battle scored a career-high 31 points on Saturday to lead the Dolphins over Bellarmine 87-69 at Swisher Gym. Battle added nine rebounds and four assists. In a 59-51 loss earlier in the week to Eastern Kentucky, Battle had 12 points and five steals.
Stat line of the week: Take your pick for Trinity Baptist freshman center Madlyn Touze. She had 21 points and 20 rebounds in both games last week, a 98-87 victory over Trinity College of Florida in New Port Richey, and in a 65-63 loss to visiting New College on Saturday. She added seven assists against Trinity and made 12 of 13 free throws in the two games combined.
This week’s games
Monday
Edward Waters at Benedict College (S.C.), 5:30 p.m.
Wednesday
Edward Waters at Allen University (S.C.), 5:30 p.m.
Flagler at Lander (S.C.), 5:30 p.m.
Thursday
Jacksonville at Central Arkansas, 6 p.m.
Trinity Baptist at Bob Jones (S.C.), 6 p.m.
North Florida at North Alabama, 6:30 p.m.
Saturday
Flagler at North Georgia, 1:30 p.m.
North Florida at Central Arkansas, 2 p.m.
Trinity Baptist at Toccoa Falls (Ga.), 2 p.m.
Allen University (S.C.) at Edward Waters, 3 p.m.
Jacksonville at North Alabama, 6 p.m.
Noting UNF (7-13, 1-5 ASUN): The Ospreys let a chance escape on Thursday. They led Bellarmine 61-52 with 5:58 left but were outscored 17-2 for the rest of the game and lost 69-63. UNF missed eight of its last nine shots and had three turnovers in the final 5:21. Senior guard Jayla Adams had 19 points and senior forward Emma Broermann had 10 rebounds. ... Broermann had her sixth double-digit rebounding game on Saturday with 12, along with 11 points, in a 79-56 loss to Eastern Kentucky.
Noting JU (6-13, 2-4 ASUN): After postponing their Jan. 20 game at UNF, the Dolphins split home games last week, losing to Eastern Kentucky but posting their best all-around game of the conference season over Bellarmine. In addition to Battle's output, junior guard Isamery Telleria had 18 points off the bench and junior guard Jalisa Dunlap had 16 points.
Noting Edward Waters (5-13, 3-8 SIAC): The Tigers’ bench saved them in Saturday’s 70-69 victory at home over Savannah State. Junior guard Tatum Hayes (13 points), senior center Kyana Johnson (12 points, 15 rebounds) and senior guard Sha’Kawana Brown (11 points) led EWC to a 39-14 edge in bench points and all three played a hand in the final sequence that delivered the victory. Johnson scored a basket to tie the game 66-66 with 56 seconds left, Hayes made a steal, was fouled, and sank both shots six seconds later for the lead and Brown made two more free throws with three seconds left. ... Senior guard Avery Jourdan had 14 points and 10 rebounds and scored 10 points during a 17-3 run to start the fourth quarter to cap a rally from 13 points down.
Noting Trinity Baptist (6-11, 2-4 NCCAA Region II South): Freshman guard Laila Harvey tied Saturday’s game against New College 63-63 with a pair of free throws with 1:00 left. But Tatiana Jackson scored with 34 seconds left and Harvey missed a shot with three tickets left on the clock. Harvey had 13 points and junior guard Emma Parrish of Palm Coast had 11. ... In the victory over Trinity College, Parrish had 23 points and made 6 of 12 3-point attempts and freshman guard Ranajala Brown and Harvey had 19 points each. Harvey added five assists and three steals.
Noting Flagler (8-10, 3-5 Peach Belt): The Saints earned a split of Peach Belt games last week, beating USC-Beaufort 70-59 at home on Saturday. Junior guard Dane Bertolina had 18 points and 12 rebounds for her third double-double of the season and junior guard Sharale McCormack had 17 points and five rebounds. ... In Flagler’s last two games, Raines graduate and junior guard Se’Lah Reddick has posted 20 points, 17 rebounds and nine assists. She had a career-high 13 points in a 62-54 loss to Columbus (Ga.). Since becoming a starter when the conference season began, Reddick is averaging 6.7 points, 6.1 rebounds, 4.7 assists and only 2.8 turnovers per game.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Ospreys have a setback at EKU but have a favorable stretch of games
