This loss, the 22nd of the season, stings the most for the University of North Florida men's basketball team.
UNF led the ASUN first-place team, Austin Peay, by 16 points late in the first half on Feb. 19 at UNF Arena. The Ospreys were up 43-29 at halftime. The Governors outscored UNF 23-9 over the first 9:35 of the first half to tie the game at 52-52, the first of nine ties over the rest of the game.
But the Ospreys still led 76-75 with 1.2 seconds left on Kamrin Oriol's free throw following a technical foul on APU's Zyree Collins for calling a timeout when he forgot his team had exhausted the allotment.
With time for only a desperation pass-and-shoot play, the Governors did just that. Ja'corey Robinson threw a pass three-quarters the length of the floor, just over the outstretched fingertips of UNF's Dalton Gayman and into the hands of teammate Anton Brookshire.
Brookshire turned and hit an 8-foot jumper over UNF's Mason Lee and Austin Peay won 77-76 to preserve a one-game lead over Central Arkansas with three games left on the schedule.
Ospreys making progress from terrible start
UNF (6-22, 4-11) has been gradually getting better and, most importantly, tougher both physically and mentally after shaking off a 10-game losing streak in December and January in which their record was 2-12 at one point.
Eight of the Ospreys' conference losses have been by single digits, including the last six. UNF's two recent loss, 63-56 to JU on Feb. 14 and to the Governors, came against taller and more muscular teams with deeper benches. However, UNF won the rebounding and points in the paint battle in both games.
"It starts in practice ... we've been making an emphasis on being tougher," Oriol said. "Shout out to [UNF's men men]. They're playing against bigger guys ... stronger guys and our toughness has been getting better. That's why the games are closer."
But the bottom line is that UNF has lost four in a row. They play at Stetson on Feb. 21 and are home in their final two regular-season games next week, against Florida Gulf Coast on Feb. 26 and JU Feb. 28.
"You want to continue to get better and better and our team has gotten better all year," said coach Bobby Kennen. "When you go through adversity, go through trying times, when you lose these tough ones you've got to continue to have that belief we've always talked about ... don't let one loss lead to two. Now we're really going to see what we're about. We're going to take this loss and grow from it. This team's grown all year."
Ospreys had a chance to add to lead
What's lacking at this point is a killer instinct. After UNF went up 16 points with 1:08 left in the first half against APU, they didn't score a basket for nearly four minutes, missing six shots from the floor and turning the ball over twice. They made only 3 of 8 free throws early in the second half, were 14 of 20 in the second half, and made only 5 of 23 from beyond the 3-point arc (22 percent).
"We missed some open looks," Kennen admitted.
Even after losing the lead for the first time since mid-first half, UNF fought back to tie the game five times in the last five minutes until taking a 75-72 lead with 1:50 left on Oriol's 3-pointer.
APU tied the game at 75-75 on a free throw by Collin Parker and a dunk by Rashaud Marshall (game-high 27 points) with 20 seconds left.
The Ospreys broke Austin Peay's press and the final play was to get Oriol (24 points), who was being double-teamed, coming off a screen. UNF's Kent Jackson (16 points) lost the handle on the ball on the left side of the basket and when Collins recovered the ball, he signaled for the time-out his team didn't have.
Oriol, second in free-throw shooting in the ASUN at 89.8 percent, missed the first technical foul shot. He rolled in the second one for a 76-75 lead before the Governors pulled off their game-winning play.
The shot by Brookeshire was reviewed to see how much time was left on the clock when he made it, and UNF was awarded 0.6 seconds. A deep pass by Lee to Gayman under the basket was broken up by Marshall and Robinson.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: UNF loses 14-point halftime lead, then game in waning seconds to Austin Peay