GULFPORT, Miss. - Four of North Florida's starting five scored in double figures, led by freshman Andy Diaz and his team-high 17 points, as the Osprey defeated Canisius College 65-61 Monday night in the first game of the Southern Miss Christmas Classic at Bert Jenkins Gym in Gulfport, Miss. The win snapped North Florida's six-game losing streak and improved the team to 2-7 on the year, while the Golden Griffins fell for the fourth-straight time and slipped to 4-6 on the season.

Diaz scored his 17 points after he went 8-for-10 from the field and 1-for-2 from the foul line in 24 minutes of play. Teammate Matt Sauey was good for 14 points and five rebounds, while teammates Jerron Granberry and Brad Haugabrook chipped in 13 and 10 points, respectively.

Canisius senior Frank Turner led all scorers with a game-high 19 points, while teammates Tomas Vazquez-Simmons and Elton Frazier posted 12 points apiece in the losing effort. Julius Coles was good for eight points and fellow junior Robert Goldsberry led all players with a season-high seven assists.

Canisius trailed by as many as nine in the second half but made a late run to get the game within reach. Trailing 59-51 with 4:30 left in the contest, Vazquez-Simmons drained two free throws out of the game's final media timeout to make the score 59-53. After the team's traded buckets, Frazier got Canisius within six at 63-57 with a pair of makes from the free-throw line, and Turner drove to the basket and laid one off the glass to make the score 63-59 in favor of North Florida. Canisius was able to come up with two defensive stops, and Frazier's leaning jumper with 17 seconds left made the game 63-61, but Granberry strolled to the line and sunk two charity tosses to put the game out of reach of 65-61.

The Blue and Gold led by as many as nine early on at 18-9 thanks to eight early points from Vazquez-Simmons, but the Osprey answered with an 8-0 run over a span of 1:14 to make the score 18-17 in favor of Canisius. The Griffs' margin held around three points for a better part of the first stanza before Sauey drained a pair of free throws with 1:52 left before the break to give North Florida the lead at 30-28. North Florida stretched its margin to 41-32 just 3:47 into the second half thanks to an 6-2 spurt right after the intermission.

"We knew coming into this game that North Florida is a solid group and a good basketball team," Canisius head coach Tom Parotta said. "We knew their record was very deceiving, especially considering they've played one of the country's toughest schedules so far. That being said, we need to become more consistent as a defensive unit and we need to get productivity from our scorers. These non-conference challenges will prepare us for a really tough conference slate, and it will allow our team to continue to get better."

North Florida shot 50 percent from the field and 65 percent from the line in the win, while the Griffs hit on 42.6 percent of their chances from the floor. Canisius was able to turn 16 North Florida turnovers into 19 points in the loss, while being charged with 15 turnovers on its own.

The team will meet the host Southern Miss Golden Eagles Tuesday night, Dec. 22, in Gulfport, Miss. Tipoff in Bert Jenkins Gym is set for 8 p.m.

Game Notes: The game against North Florida was the first in program history... Turner has now scored double figures in 29-straight games, dating back to Jan. 3, 2009... Turner has led the Griffs in scoring a total of 34 times in his career... Goldsberry ranks second on the team this season with 29 assists, while averaging 17.1 minutes per game... Vazquez-Simmons had two blocks in the losing effort and now has 159 in his career.