Knights look to slash Pirates again

UCF

Justin McBride did his best to play the hero from the bench Sunday afternoon in Dallas, but couldn’t stop a punishing 88-73 UCF loss to No. 15 SMU on the basketball court. The Knights traveled to Texas with American Athletic Conference-play opening wins over East Carolina and USF, but their next stop was the strongest team in the AAC.

The SMU Mustangs had already polished off three straight conference foes — including a 59-57 nail-biter against a traveling Cincinnati — before the Knights came into town having not beaten SMU since January of 2013.

McBride played backup center in the game and led the team with 20 points and nine rebounds in just 28 minutes on the floor. He managed to fill out every offensive category with three turnovers, two blocks, a steal and an assist.

The Knights led the game briefly early in the first period before the Mustangs went on a scoring run that would blow the scoring differential open by 14 points in just the first six minutes. After the first half, the Knights never came closer than 14 points behind, with the score on three occasions stretching as open as 21 points wide. With less than two minutes left, the Knights were hacking away at a 20-point deficit, but it was too late.

The loss dropped the Knights to 8-6 overall and 2-1 in the AAC. The undefeated Mustangs rose to a 15-0 overall record.

So early in the season, the Knights are already set to face East Carolina again. But this time they’ll do it on their own court, tipping off at the CFE Arena at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday.

Thankfully for the Knights, the Pirates haven’t improved since they last met, with that ECU loss triggering a three-game losing streak, with another loss likely when they faced undefeated SMU at press time Wednesday.

The game will be broadcast on ESPNU.

Rollins

The Tars men’s basketball team fell to 10-5 overall and 3-3 in the Sunshine State Conference when they let Saint Leo’s Marcus Dewberry launch a game-winning layup in the final second, downing the Tars 77-75. The Tars had held a one-point lead with less than a minute left before Saint Leo tied it up with a free throw, setting up the game-winning score.

Deion Clark tried his best to keep the Tars in it, with 21 points, which is near a career high.

Rollins faced Florida Tech at press time Wednesday, and will host non-conference foe Palm Beach Atlantic (7-6) at 4 p.m. Saturday. Then they’ll face Florida Southern (7-9) at 7:30 p.m. on Jan 20.

Winter Park

The Wildcats boys basketball team (11-7, 2-0) bounced back from a loss to state champion Hagerty (10-7) to beat University (9-11, 2-4) by a score of 58-45 on Jan. 8.

That win kept them atop the district as they face crucial games ahead. But Tuesday night they suffered a setback in a non-district game against Evans (12-7) falling by just a late three pointer in a 67-64 loss. Wyatt Wilkes hit 23 points trying to keep the Wildcats in the game.

Heading toward the home stretch of the regular season, the Wildcats travel to Boone (12-7, 2-1) for a 7:30 p.m. tipoff tonight. The Wildcats remain the only undefeated team in the district.

Edgewater

Trevon Cason’s 12 points led the Eagles (10-7, 3-0) to a 54-49 win over Lake Region on Tuesday night. That clinched the Eagles’ top seed in the four-team Class 6A District 6. The Eagles face Hagerty at 8 p.m. Saturday night at The Master’s Academy Classic.

The lady Eagles are 14-4 overall and 5-0 in the district after blowing out Lake Region (2-17, 0-5) by 90-7 on the road.

The Eagles are heading into their last district matchup of the regular season hosting Auburndale (9-5, 2-3) at 7 p.m. tonight.