SOUTH Carolina were stunned 74-71 by the North Florida Ospreys in their men’s college basketball opener.
The match-up was just the second time that the two schools had ever faced each other, with the Gamecocks having won their only previous meeting a decade ago.
North Florida celebrate their incredible opening game win[/caption]
The Gamecocks were frustrated by their opponents[/caption]
The Ospreys went into the game as 16.5-point underdogs, and trailed by five at the half.
But they refused to give up, dropping 43 second-half points on their hosts to grab an incredible win.
The triumph was North Florida’s first-ever against an SEC program.
Matthew Driscoll’s team finished the contest on a 15-7 run to claim an improbable win.
Per Front Office Sports, South Carolina paid the Ospreys $95,000 to come and play them in their season opener at the 18,000-seater Colonial Life Arena.
The Ospreys’ home games, meanwhile, are hosted at the more modest 6,300 capacity UNF Arena.
Jaylen Smith led the game in scoring with 16 points off 6-for-13 from the field.
Of Smith’s 16 points, 14 came in the second-half.
Jasai Miles grabbed nine boards in addition to 11 points.
While Liam Murphy made 4-of-8 threes attempted as he added 14 points off the bench.
After the game, Gamecocks head coach Lamont Paris was full of praise for the Ospreys and Driscoll.
“This is what DNA means, and hopefully our guys will listen to this,” he said. “You have DNA of your program.
“He’s been there a long time, he’s a good coach… Their DNA is how hard they play, they competed, every loose ball they were there first.
“Anytime we dribbled they had two hands on it, that’s DNA.”
BATTLE OF THE BOARDS
Paris, 49, was also disappointed with how his team were out-rebounded 43-to-37.
“You know one thing we talked about, I’d be interested out of the 15 offensive rebounds, I’d check and see how many were long offensive rebounds,” he said.
“We spent time practising not just turning and running in there and getting the rebound because when you shoot a lot of threes there’s a lot of long rebounds.”
Paris was also frustrated that his side fouled a three-point shooter, something he had made avoiding a point of emphasis, on the opening night.
South Carolina will aim to bounce back as they host the South Carolina State Bulldogs on Friday.
The Ospreys, meanwhile, will hope to back up their win when they play the Charleston Southern Buccaneers tomorrow.
