LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Langdon Hatton scored a career-high 20 points Thursday night at Freedom Hall, but the Bellarmine men's basketball team fell to North Florida 71-63 in Atlantic Sun play.

Bellarmine (4-17, 0-6) made a concerted effort to get the ball inside, especially to feed Hatton. They shot only seven threes in the first half to UNF's 21 and outscored them in the paint 12-8, 34-24 for the game. They went just 1-for-10 from three in the second half while attempting to mount a comeback.

Hatton finished 9-for-14 from the field. His previous career high was 19 at Ball State on Dec. 2. He fell two rebounds shy of his second straight double-double.

One game after himself scoring a new career high of 20 points, senior guard Bash Wieland dropped in 15 points and added eight rebounds. It was his second game since returning from a broken left pinkie and first home game since Dec. 7.

Sophomore guard Landin Hacker added seven points in his return to action after missing three games after rolling his ankle in practice.

Picked to finish eight out of 12 teams in the ASUN by the media and 11^th by the coaches, North Florida (12-9, 5-1) has rattled off five straight wins after dropping their ASUN opener at Stetson. They sit alone in second place behind 5-0 Eastern Kentucky.

The Ospreys' Chaz Lanier scored 33 points on 11-for-18 shooting, 6-of-12 from three. It is the most points scored by a Bellarmine opponent this season. The junior guard started 5-for-5 from the floor, 4-for-4 from three, and scored 14 of UNF's first 18 points.

The nation's leader in both three-point attempts and three-point makes, North Florida was scorching from beyond the arc to start the game, hitting seven of their first nine from distance to open up a 24-14 lead.

A cold spell from distance helped the Knights to get back in the game. UNF missed their last 12 three-point attempts in the first half and allowed Bellarmine to take a 32-30 lead on a Ben Johnson three to beat the shot clock with 17 seconds left in the first half.

That would be Bellarmine's only lead of the game, however, as North Florida retook the lead early in the second half. After missing their first three of the stanza, they hit three straight to go up 47-38 with 12:57 left.

The Knights would battle back from nine points down in the second to keep it close, cutting the margin to three twice on layups by Wieland and Hatton with 4:40 and 4:04 left, respectively. The Ospreys, however, answered with buckets both times and hit all eight of their free throws in the final minute to secure the win.

The Knights host Jacksonville Saturday at 4 p.m. ET for both homecoming and their Alumni Game. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster.

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