The North Florida Ospreys and the Stetson Hatters meet Monday in college basketball action from Edmunds Center. North Florida is 6-7 overall this season. The Ospreys beat Austin Peay in their last game. As for Stetson, they’re sitting at 6-6 following a win over Lipscomb on Friday. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
North Florida was just 2-6 after eight games this year, beating only SC State and Trinity Baptist. The Ospreys have since gone 4-1 with victories versus Bethune-Cookman, D&E, Bethune-Cookman again and Austin Peay.
On Saturday in the Austin Peay game, the Ospreys were down 42-36 by the break. North Florida fought back in the second half and eventually won 90-85 in overtime. Jarius Hicklen led the way on 18 points and five rebounds.
Over on the Stetson side, they were 4-3 after seven games this year, falling to Niagara, Campbell and Florida. Stetson followed that up with a 2-3 run, losing to Charleston, Ohio and UCF along the way.
In Friday’s matchup versus Lipscomb, the Hatters outscored the Bisons 17-11 in overtime to power out an 86-80 comeback win. Stetson’s Stephan Swenson scored 22 points, and Josh Smith doubled on 15 points with 13 rebounds.
PICK: I’ll probably stick with North Florida here. The Ospreys are coming off a gritty win over Austin Peay and they’ve now won four of the last five games. North Florida has scored 87 or more points in all four of those wins as well. As for Stetson, they halted a three-game losing streak with their latest victory over Lipscomb. The Hatters will need to get their scoring up (they’ve been at 66 or fewer points in three of the last four) in order to cover here, and I don’t think Stetson will quite get there.