JACKSONVILLE, FL – North Florida (17-10, 6-4 ASUN) closed the first half on a 35-8 run en route to a 91-69 win over NJIT (9-17, 1-9 ASUN) on Thursday night at UNF Arena in Jacksonville.
 
The Highlanders came firing out of the gates in this one and hit four threes in the first four minutes to open up an early 12-3 advantage following a triple from freshman guard Shyquan Gibbs with 15:58 left in the opening stanza.
 
The two teams traded baskets over the next few minutes and NJIT held an 18-8 edge before a Chris Davenport layup kickstarted the 35-8 run for the Ospreys over the final 12:01 of the first half.
 
After Anthony Tarke's dunk gave NJIT a 26-24 lead, UNF scored the final 19 points of the first half capped by a triple from Aaron Horne and took a 43-26 lead into the locker room.
 
Tarke tied his career-high with 23 points to lead the way offensively for head coach Brian Kennedy's squad while sophomore center Abdul Lewis added 15 points on 7-of-12 shooting and senior forward Tim Coleman-the school's all-time leader in career double-doubles-chipped in with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
 
Junior guard Chris Jenkins hit a trio of three-pointers in the early going and finished with nine points for the Highlanders.
 
Tarke had previously scored 23 in the 84-78 win over North Florida on Jan. 14 at Fleisher Athletic Center in Newark.
 
Senior guard Dallas Moore-the nation's fourth leading scorer-buried five threes en route to a game-high 28 points for the Ospreys as all five starters scored in double figures. Garrett Sams contributed 18 points while freshman forward Wajid Aminu and senior guard Aaron Bodager chipped in 12 apiece.
 
NJIT would not go quietly as they cut the lead to 11 at 69-58 with 5:46 to play after a layup from Lewis, but Moore answered on the other end with a three to start a 13-4 run for the hosts.
 
As a team, the Highlanders shot 42.2% (27-64) from the floor and North Florida hit 31-of-60 (51.7%). From beyond the arc, NJIT hit 7-of-21 (33.3) and UNF sank 13-of-25 (52.0%).
 
NJIT will close out the road trip on Saturday night when they battle the Jacksonville Dolphins (15-12, 3-7 ASUN). Opening tip from Swisher Gym is slated for 7 p.m. and the game can be seen on ESPN3. 



Write-up courtesy of Joe Fitzhenry