JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – North Florida scored the first nine points of the second half to break open a four-point game and went on to beat Jacksonville University 86-63 Saturday in the Atlantic Sun Conference opener at Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena Saturday.

The Ospreys' (9-9, 1-0) output was led by senior Jalen Nesbitt who had five in the opening second-half salvo. It put the finishing touches to a 19-2 run spanning the end of the first half and start of the second and propelled UNF to a 13-point lead at 44-31.

Through that point in the game, UNF had scored 16 points off JU turnovers and ended the game with 22 such points on 16 JU miscues.

"We're really disappointed in the way we came out of the locker room,'' JU coach Tony Jasick said. "Even though we didn't play a clean first half we were in position to make a run and make it a ball game and we came out the second half and didn't have energy and didn't have attention to detail.''

Jasick agreed his team seemed shell shocked about what happened early in the second half but wasn't sure if it was a product of inexperience.

"I agree and I wish we had the answer to that,'' he said. "If we had the answer we could avoid it. I think it's a little bit of personal responsibility and a lot of my responsibility but, gosh, we're really frustrated with the way we started the second half. At the end of the day it's not the end of the world but it is disappointing and we've got to learn and grow from it.''

Nesbitt was one of four Ospreys in double figures with 11 points. Teammates Beau Beech (17 points), Demarcus Daniels (16) and Dallas Moore (14) joined him.

JU's Kori Babineaux (Folsom, Calif.) broke the spell with a field goal and a pair of free throws but UNF pulled away from there. Babineaux, averaging 13.3 points per game, ended the game with 13 points, the ninth consecutive game in which he has scored in double figures.

Holder, a sophomore from Atlanta, Ga., had his first career double-double as he ended the game with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Junior Josh Adeyeye (Fayetteville, N.C.) had 10 points.
JU took the first half lead, 29-25, with 4:38 to play when Holder made two free throws and the Dolphins scored only two points, both on free throws, the remainder of the half. Meanwhile, the Ospreys scored 10 in that time frame to grab the half time lead.

The Dolphins (6-12, 0-1) play host to Stetson Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Swisher Gym on campus.