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Chapel Hill, NC (SportsNetwork.com) - Brice Johnson posted 18 points and 14 rebounds as 15th-ranked North Carolina kept up its strong recent play with a 78-74 victory over Florida State. Marcus Paige added 19 points and Justin Jackson put up 14 in the Tar Heels ninth triumph in their last 10 outings. North Carolina (16-4, 6-1 ACC) will take a five-game win streak into a difficult upcoming stretch against Syracuse, Louisville and No. 2 Virginia. Florida State (10-10, 2-5) hung tough for most of the afternoon, with Xavier Rathan-Mayes career-high 35 points keeping the Seminoles in it, before ultimately being dealt its fourth loss in its last five in ACC play. Though the Tar Heels were in front most of the way, their lead was just 67-63 with under five minutes remaining after Rathan-Mayes knocked down jumpers on consecutive possessions. The teams then traded free throws before North Carolina began to draw clear down the stretch. Jackson tipped in a Paige miss and J.P. Tokoto followed with a successful midrange shot after Rathan-Mayes missed a 3-point try, with the basket extending the lead to 71-63 with 2:57 to go. Florida State came up empty on its next four trips down the court as well, and the margin was 10 when Kennedy Meeks scored for UNC with 46 seconds left. Rathan-Mayes buried a trio of 3-pointers thereafter, however, with the final one trimming FSUs deficit to 75-72 before Paige helped seal the outcome by making a pair of foul shots with 16 seconds to play. The Tar Heels opened up a 21-12 advantage nearing the midway mark of the first half after Paige scored the final five points of a 9-1 run, and the differential was 11 points when Tokotos bucket with five minutes left in the period put North Carolina up by a 30-19 count. Florida State then began to heat up offensively, hitting three straight shots to finish off a 12-3 spurt. The last of those makes, a 3-pointer from Devon Bookert, pulled the Seminoles within 33-31 prior to Jacksons jumper in the final minute that sent North Carolina into the break ahead by four. A 6-0 stretch staked the Tar Heels to a 54-45 lead with under 10 1/2 minutes remaining, and owned a 63-54 edge until another Booker trey ignited a 7-2 FSU flurry. Game Notes Rathan-Mayes previous career high was 26 points, set against the Citadel on Nov. 25 ... Johnson finished 7-of-9 from the field ... Tar Heels guard Nate Britt, questionable coming into the game after he sustained a lacerated lip that required 15 stitches in Wednesdays win at Wake Forest, did play and scored four points in 14 minutes ... North Carolina improved to 10-0 when Jackson scores in double figures ... The Tar Heels improved to 19-4 all-time against Florida State in Chapel Hill and have won five straight overall in the series. 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The Wild Get: LW Matt Moulson and LW Cody McCormick.CINCINNATI – The late, great Earl Weaver once was asked about momentum and whether it existed in baseball. “Momentum is only as good as the next days starter,” the long-time Baltimore Orioles manager famously quipped. Blue Jays skipper John Gibbons was smacked in the face with that truth on Saturday. Less than 24 hours after his club staged the second biggest comeback in franchise history, winning 14-9 on Friday night in a game it had trailed 8-0, J.A. Happ (6-4) imploded on the mound and the Reds won a laugher 11-1. “He didnt have it today,” said Gibbons. “We really never had a chance. You know, just kind of sucked the wind out of us right away but, hey, we move on. Show up tomorrow.” Happ got the first two outs of the first inning. Reasonably quickly, too, as Billy Hamilton grounded out and Todd Frazier lined out. Then, inexplicably, Happ fell apart. He walked Joey Votto. He walked Brandon Phillips. He walked Jay Bruce to load the bases. Ryan Ludwick smacked a two-run single to centerfield, scoring Votto and Phillips. Happ walked Devin Mesoraco. Finally, Ramon Santiago grounded out to end Happs 37-pitch first inning. Whatever the events of Friday night had done to ease the burden of an ugly sweep in New York, Happ had put his team in another hole and this time the offence couldnt climb its way out. “I was trying to be too fine, maybe, or what Im not sure,” said Happ. “I let three guys go and then the base hit, kind of a tough way to start. I tried to be aggressive after that, but we didnt have a ton for them today and that started with me.” Jay Bruce hit a solo home run in the third, the Reds scored four more times on three singles and two doubles in the fourth and Happs day was done. So was the Blue Jays afternoon; they could muster only a Colby Rasmus solo home run in the seventh off of Reds starter Mike Leake (5-6). REYES LEAVES WITH KNEE BRUISE Jose Reyes wont start on Sunday after fouling a ball off his left knee in the fifth inning of Saturdays loss to the Reds. He didnt take his shortstop position after finishing his at-bat, replaced by Steve Tolleson. He doesnt think its serious. “I hit it pretty good there, but its not a big deal,” said Reyes. Reyes confirmed hed already been approached by manager John Gibbons, who informed him that he wouldnt be in Sundays starting lineup. Reyes is hitless in his last 12 at-bats and Gibbons suggested a breather could do his shortstop good. RASMUS ON A ROLL Colby Rasmus is off to a nice start since coming off the disabled list in time for Wednesdays game at Yankee Stadium. In four games, hes 6-for-14 with a home run and two doubles. He drew a walk, a crucial one at that, leading off the ninth inning of Friday nights improbable come-from-behind, 14-9 victory over the Reds. He scored the winning run on an Erik Kratz double. Rasmus missed 33 games with a strained right hamstring. He didnt waste time while he was hurt. He went to work in the gym and he credits his easy transition into the lineup to increased strength. “Going on the DL, Im able to put a little weight on and get stronger and lift (weights) and do a lot more things that Im not able to do when Im playing because, when Im playing, its hard to get those good lifts in where you can be sore the next day,” said Rasmus. “You dont want to mess yourself up. I was able to get stronger and that helps.” The Blue Jays went 23-10 in Rasmus absence, for most of the stretch maximizing the potentiall of the Anthony Gose-Kevin Pillar centrefield platoon.dddddddddddd What Gose gave the Blue Jays with speed on the bases and defensively in centre, he couldnt make up for the power threat of Rasmuss bat. As the club began to struggle and the power numbers regressed to normalcy, it became clear how much Rasmus was missed. Hes back and hes resumed the same approach he brought into spring training. “Im not letting any pressures make me feel pressure,” said Rasmus. “In the past, when I was younger, people tried to always light a fire under me because Im kind of chilled and just kind of laid back, quiet and they always tried to make me get real amped up and it didnt help me none because I drove myself crazy wanting to do good. Id get myself so amped up and then not do good and the let down can break you down over time. I try to stay away from that, put me some country music on and stay relaxed, slowed down and then the game will speed me up.” On that crucial walk Rasmus drew against Reds flamethrower Aroldis Chapman on Friday night, he went up to the plate looking to greet one of Chapmans famous heaters, which consistently top 100 miles per hour. “Im looking for cheddar cheese balls,” said Rasmus, referencing one of his many nicknames for the fastball. “I mean, it is what it is, you cant worry about his offspeed stuff even though hes got a good slider, a good change-up.” NAVARRO JUBILANT AS MESSI SCORES Dioner Navarro is a fan of Argentine soccer great Lionel Messi. That, in fact, may be an understatement. Navarro wears a Messi jersey underneath his batting practice jersey everyday. Hes got the schedule laid out, too. When Messi is playing for his club team, FC Barcelona, Navarro sports the striped, red and blue home jersey. Currently, with Messi captaining Argentina in the World Cup, hes wearing Messis Argentine attire. When Messi scored in extra time to lead Argentina over Iran, 1-0, on Sunday afternoon, Navarro sprung up from a clubhouse couch and did a lap of the room, high-fiving teammates along the way. For Navarro, the game was too close for comfort. “I just got a few more greys on my head,” said Navarro. “What a goal.” Navarro admits his infatuation with Messi is strange, especially because its uncommon for one professional athlete to fawn over another. The admiration began about a decade ago. “Back home, Venezuela, we grew up and we didnt have much money,” said Navarro. “We had only the local (television) channels and my parents were trying to get us as far away from whatever they were showing us on TV, violence and all that stuff back home. We used to get the games from Spain and I kind of grew up watching the games from Barcelona and, when Messi stepped in, he was 17 years old the first time. Every year he keeps growing. He keeps doing unbelievable things.” Argentinas win was as much a relief to Navarro as it was a thrill. Hed been getting grief from his teammates. “They were all over me, oh my gosh,” said Navarro. “The last thing I wanted was it to be tight because I knew everybody was going to be talking smack to me. Messi came through.” ROSTER MOVE The Blue Jays optioned right-handed pitcher Liam Hendriks to Triple-A Buffalo before Saturdays game. Left-handed reliever Rob Rasmussen was recalled from the Bisons, which marks his second stint with the Blue Jays this season. Rasmussen made four appearances from May 20-29. He pitched two innings, allowing two hits and a walk while striking out two. ' ' '