Revenge for the Knights

The University of South Florida Bulls tried to come back against UCF, again and again. But they couldn’t stop A.J. Rompza.

They couldn’t get through him either. And as the clock ticked to zero with the ball in his hands, Rompza’s eyes turned to the crowd as a jubilant roar bellowed out of him. The Knights had gotten revenge on the Bulls, 65-59.

And they owed much of that win to their smallest, most tenacious player.

The scrappy Knights guard ran circles around USF early, and then turned to ferocious defense to put them away. Rompza would lead the Knights to a dramatic win over the Bulls on Thursday, Nov. 18.

“I think it showed a lot of character for us,” Rompza said after the tough game, in which the Knights led for nearly its entirety.

But that win was at times tensely uncertain, as the Knights, at one point up by 12 points with just four minutes elapsed in the first quarter, allowed the Bulls back into the game again and again. At one point in the final minute, the Bulls were just a shot away from the win.

Yet each time the Bulls crept back into parity with the Knights, the home team would find a way to pull away again.

At times, there were many heroes in the Knights’ third-straight win to start the season, with Rompza nailing crucial jumpers early to electrify the crowd, and P.J. Gaynor dropping a three-point bomb in the second period to pull away from the Bulls by those three points after the Knights had failed to score for more than two minutes. Then, with less than two minutes left, Isaac Sosa drilled a quick 3-pointer of his own to send the crowd into a frenzy.

“I’m proud of the team and proud of A.J. Rompza,” Coach Donnie Jones said.

Following two high-scoring Knight routs, this game was a total reversal, with defense holding both teams back from the net.

Having averaged 60 percent shooting from the floor in their first two games, the Knights plummeted to 38.3 percent against the towering Bulls. Those Bulls also showed a big Knight weakness on offensive rebounds. When the Knights missed a shot, the Bulls picked up the ball 25 times for just 10 times that a Knight rebounded the ball.

But on the other end of the court, the Knights were equally tenacious, picking up 20 defensive rebounds to the Bulls’ 12 offensive.

Rompza turned so energetic on defense that he picked up as many rebounds and steals as 6 foot 8 inches forward Keith Clanton, including a game-saving steal with less than a minute left to play.

In the end, Rompza would lead or tie for the team lead in nearly every category, leading with 15 points, four assists, tying Clanton with five rebounds and grabbing two steals.

The Knights played Stetson at press time, returning to host Alabama State at 5 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 27.