JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville University men's basketball team (8-11, 1-3 ASUN) welcomed a sell-out crowd to Swisher Gymnasium on Thursday night for round one of the 2020 edition of the River City Rumble but North Florida (11-9, 4-1 ASUN) was the side to come away with victory in a tight one, 75-68.

The Dolphins ultimately shot a better percentage from the floor (43.9-43.1) and out-rebounded the Ospreys (39-32) but seven triples from the visiting side did their part to create the difference in this one. Jacksonville pounded 42 points in the paint and generated 19 second-chance points.

David Bell (Hodges Mazda Player of the Game) continued to do his thing, dropping 21 points, one shy of matching a career-high, while pulling down 13 rebounds. This marks the ninth double-double of Bell's season, third-straight, and he's now up to 15.8 points 10.3 rebounds per game in ASUN play. This is the 10th time this season that the senior has secured 10 or more rebounds and the fifth time he's grabbed 13 or more.

Aamahne Santos re-emerged to can 16 points on 7-10 shooting to go with three rebounds and three steals. This marks the first double-digit output for the senior since Dec. 14 opposite Middle Georgia State. Each of his last four double-figure efforts have come at home. Kevin Norman scored nine points and pulled down seven rebounds with two assists and a steal while Diante Wood added four points and four boards off the bench.

Jacksonville struggled to find its stroke early on, trailing by five at the 16:58 mark but a Norman runner in the lane following a timeout sparked an 8-0 run that pushed his team ahead, 11-8 by the 14:29 mark. The lead grew to six, 16-10, by 12:04 in the first half but that was the largest lead of the night for JU. The Dolphins maintained the lead until the 3:43 mark of the first half and trailed by just two at the break.

Bryce Workman knocked in a jumper with 14:04 to play to keep the deficit at two but an extended 17-5 run when UNF got hot from long range created the gap in this one. Mo Arnold made an athletic play to tip in a missed triple with 1:48 left to get back within eight and some slick defense from Santos cut it to five with 19 seconds left but that was as close as JU came in this one.

Next up for Jacksonville is another chance to pick up a victory in front of the hometown crowd on Saturday night. Stetson comes to town for a 6 p.m. tip live from Swisher Gymnasium. Stetson picked up a 54-49 victory over North Alabama on Thursday night.