Dayton, Ohio – North Florida's Dallas Moore hit a floating runner in the closing eight seconds and the Ospreys fended off a last-second attempt by North Dakota to post a 76-75 victory in the opening game of the Men Against Breast Cancer Classic at the Nutter Center Friday afternoon.

The loss was the first of the season for the Fighting Hawks (3-1), who trailed by as many as 14 points, but surged back with a strong second half spearheaded by Big Sky Preseason MVP Quinton Hooker. The UND captain finished with 29 points on 11-of-18 shooting from the floor and put his team up by one at 75-74 after making a free throw with 18 seconds to play.

"Our guys came out in the second half and defended at a higher level," UND head coach Brian Jones said. "We did a good job against that zone, attacking it and getting high-percentage shots. Two of our last three possessions, we got the looks we wanted, but they came down at the end and made a big shot when we needed one more stop."

Moore wouldn't let his team lose, however, and prevented UND's first 4-0 start since the 2002-03 season by swishing his floater from five feet away on the Ospreys' next possession. UND sophomore Geno Crandall took the inbounds pass and raced it down the court, but UNF did not allow him to get a clean look at the basket after what was the 15th-lead change of the contest.

Crandall finished with 13 points and classmate Cortez Seales added a season-high 12 points off the bench for UND, who yielded only 29 second-half points to the Ospreys after falling behind 47-39 at the break.

Moore, who is the reigning Atlantic Sun Player of the Year and is already UNF's career scoring leader, helped the Ospreys overcome 21 turnovers by pulling down six rebounds in a category his team held the edge in at 39-28.
UND shot 50 percent from the floor in the opening 20 minutes and held a 16-9 advantage at one point, but a drought in the middle of the first half allowed the Ospreys to turn that deficit into as much as a 14-point lead.

The Ospreys shot 62.1 percent from the floor (18-for-29) in the first half, but only made 8-of-26 field goals after the break, allowing Hooker and company to pull back in front. Hooker converted a 3-point play with just over eight minutes to play to put UND ahead 61-57, but that four-point cushion would quickly evaporate.

UNF put together a 16-6 run to regain control of the contest, but Hooker would nail a 3-pointer at the 2:06 mark to make things interesting down the stretch. Seales would give the Fighting Hawks the lead back at 74-73 with 1:36 to play, but UND freshman Garrett Sams would square things up again after going 1-for-2 from the stripe with exactly a minute to play.

On UND's next possession, Hooker had a good look from 3-point land rim out, but the Ospreys would turn the ball over giving the Fighting Hawks one more chance to take the lead. This time Hooker was fouled by Moore in the open court. He missed the first try in the double-bonus, but buried the second to put his team up by one again before Moore supplied the heroics for the Ospreys.

UNF finished 16-for-20 from the line, while UND managed just a 60 percent clip (15-for-25), holding the edge in a category that would prove to impact the outcome.

Hooker went 4-for-11 from 3-point land, but he was the only Fighting Hawk to convert from deep in the contest. Bernstine finished with eight points and a game-high nine rebounds.

UND will return to action on Saturday against tournament host Wright State with a 6 p.m. CT tip-off scheduled to air on ESPN3.

-- UND --