The heavily favored No. 3 seed Florida Gators beat the No. 15 in-state Florida Gulf Coast Eagles 62-50 on Friday. The loss ends the Cinderella story for the team that's high flying style of play earned them the nickname, "Dunk City".
Mike Rosario led the regular-season SEC champion Florida team with a team-best 15 points, five rebounds and two steals. "Stepping into a situation like this where you have everybody against us, we've got to block everything out. Just treat this like a road game," Rosario told ESPN after the game. "I thought we did a great job of blocking everything out and focusing on the next play."
Florida's defense played a major role in their win on Friday. The size advantage for the Gators helped them not only gain the advantage rebounding (13-5), but also to force FGCU into 20 turnovers.
The Eagles jumped out to an early 24-14 lead over the Gators. However, Florida went on a 16-2 run and gained a 30-26 advantage just before halftime. The Eagles cut their deficit to seven points with 3:11 remaining, but clutch shooting by the Gators helped them keep a steady advantage in the final minutes of play.
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