North Florida Falls At Buzzer In Back-And-Forth Battle Against Austin Peay

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – In a back-and-forth game that featured 15 ties and 10 lead changes, North Florida Men’s Basketball fell at the final buzzer against Austin Peay, 77-76, at UNF Arena on Thursday night. 
 
Tied at 76, Austin Peay was assessed a technical foul for calling a timeout with none remaining and senior guard Kamrin Oriol split a pair at the free-throw line to secure North Florida a 77-76 lead with 1.9 seconds left. 
 
Austin Peay converted on a heave and shot to reach the eventual final with 0.6 seconds left in regulation. 
 
Oriol posted a team-high 24 points on 8-15 from the field, 3-6 from three and 5-6 from the free-throw line in 39 minutes. He has now scored 10 or more points in 28 of 29 games and 20 or more points in 14 games. 
 
Graduate student guard/forward Dalton Gayman neared a double-double with 14 points and nine rebounds on 3-4 from the field and 8-10 from the free-throw line in 27 minutes. 
 
North Florida opened a 23-17 lead at the under-eight-minute media timeout in the first half. The Ospreys opened a double-digit lead at 27-17 on a driving finish from Gayman at the 6:33-minute mark of the first half. 
 
With a minute left before the half, North Florida pushed the margin to 43-27 for its largest lead of the first half at 16. North Florida led 43-29 at the half. Gayman led all Ospreys with 11 points on 3-4 from the field and 5-6 from the free-throw line in the first half. 
 
North Florida limited Austin Peay to 28.1 percent from the field and 20.0 percent from three in the initial 20 minutes. The Ospreys also outscored their visitors 24-14 in points in the paint in the first half. 
 
Austin Peay went on a 12-2 run to trim its deficit to 50-47 at the 12:42-minute mark and tied the game at 52 at the 10:26-minute mark of the second half. 
 
After Austin Peay took the lead, Jackson tied the margin with a corner three at 57-57, then Oriol finished a driving layup to retake the lead at 59-57. Redshirt sophomore guard/forward Mason Lee tied the game at 66 and forced an Austin Peay timeout with 3:56 minutes left in regulation. 
 
Oriol knocked down a three to secure North Florida a 75-72 lead with a 1:51 minutes left in regulation. 
 
North Florida makes the short trip to DeLand, Fla. to face Stetson on Saturday, Feb. 21 at 3:30 p.m. ET.