Northern Kentucky holds off North Florida 65-52

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Chad Jackson scored 21 points, and Eshaunte Jones had 19 points and nine rebounds to lead Northern Kentucky to a 65-52 victory over North Florida on Wednesday in an Atlantic Sun Conference game.

Ethan Faulkner had 12 points for the Norse (3-7, 1-1), in their inaugural season in the Atlantic Sun and at the NCAA Division I level.

Beau Beech had 17 points and eight rebounds for the Ospreys (6-9, 1-1), and Travis Wallace scored 12 points in the first meeting between the teams. North Florida was 3-0 at home until the loss.

The Norse led 32-25 at the break, but the Ospreys grabbed a 49-47 advantage on Beech's jumper at 7:49. Northern Kentucky regained the lead at 51-50 on Jones' jumper at 5:09 and boosted it to 60-50 on Faulkner's free throws at 1:40. Jones and Faulkner made 9 put of 10 free throws down the stretch.