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A-Sun Basketball: North Florida only underdog to advance to conference tournament semifinals

By Daniel Benjamin

MIAMI, FL - NOVEMBER 25: Emmanuel Lambright
MIAMI, FL - NOVEMBER 25: Emmanuel Lambright /
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The Atlantic Sun became the first Division I conference to kickoff its tournament when all eight of the league’s teams played on Feb. 26.

The first round of the Atlantic Sun tournament went pretty much according to plan as each of the top-3 seeds advanced to the quarterfinals. The lone exception was No. 5 North Florida (14-18, 7-7) upending No. 4 NJIT (14-16, 7-7) 70-66 in Newark.

UNF took control of the contest right from the opening tap. The Ospreys scored the first 13 points of the game with Garrett Sims, who finished with a career high 28 points, tallying eight of them.

UNF led by 20 at halftime, but NJIT slowly worked themselves back into the contest. Trailing 62-49, the Highlanders went on a 13-3 spurt to make it a one possession game with four minutes to play.

The Ospreys pushed its lead back up to eight as Ivan Gandia-Rosa and Trip Day combined to convert all six of their free throws. However, the Highlanders responded with a 9-1 run to get within 75-74 with 19 seconds. UNF closed out the game by sinking five of six free throws.

With the win, UNF has advanced to the past the quarterfinals of the tournament four consecutive years. The Ospreys will now travel to the top-seeded FGCU Eagles on March 1. Florida Gulf Coast (22-10, 12-2), which is seeking to earn its third straight NCAA bid, ran past No. 8 South Carolina-Upstate (96-76).

No. 2 Lipscomb (21-9, 10-4) will host No. 3 Jacksonville (15-17, 8-6) in the other A-Sun semifinal.

Lipscomb extended its win streak to six with 89-73 victory over No. 7 Stetson (12-20, 4-10). This marks the fourth straight season that Bisons are in the conference semifinals.

Next: Complete preview of the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament

In the meantime, Jacksonville earned its first tournament victory since 2011 with a 87-68 win over No .6  Kennesaw State. The Dolphins are on a  three game winning streak. This all sets up a nice set of games tonight with the winners one step closer to an auto bid.

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