North Florida Wins Atlantic Sun, Will Make NCAA Tournament Debut

Junior forward Demarcus Daniels scored a game-high 22 points and added 6 rebounds and 2 blocks to lead the North Florida Ospreys to a 63-57 win over USC Upstate in the Atlantic Sun Conference championship game in Jacksonville.

Trailing by 9 at the half, USC Upstate began the 2nd half with an 11-0 run to take a 5-point lead at the 16:00 mark. North Florida regrouped after a timeout, and after 2 more lead changes, the Ospreys finally took the lead for good with 7:01 remaining following 2 Chris Davenport free throws.

Head coach Matthew Driscoll is no stranger to postseason play, having been an assistant on teams that made NIT and NCAA Tournament appearances. A trio of players who average more than 30 minutes per game will be the core that Driscoll will rely on – Dallas Moore, Beau Beech, and Jalen Nesbitt not only log heavy minutes, but along with Davenport, they make up the 4 leading scorers and 3 of the top 4 rebounders on the team.

(Feature image: atlanticsun.org)