UCF, Rollins basketball both hit their stride

The Knights got revenge and righted their season in one game on the hard court at the University of South Florida on Feb. 15. After losing in overtime 10 days earlier to the Bulls, the Knights edged them 75-74 and snapped a nine-game losing streak at the same time.

Isaiah Sykes needed 27 points to keep the Knights within a shot of the win, and in the final two seconds, his last shot would seal the deal.

“I think this is the best game we’ve played as a team,” Sykes told UCFKnights.com after the game. For the first time in more than a month the Knights shot better than 50 percent as a team, with four players entering double digits.

Justin McBride would again prove himself a scoring machine from the bench, dropping 13 points in the basket in just 14 minutes on the floor, and picking up five rebounds in the process.

For the Knights, it was only their second win in 11 games of American Athletic Conference play. Their two wins have come by a cumulative three-point margin. Thankfully their wins over USF and Temple — the other two teams in the bottom of the conference — have kept them out of last place.

Wednesday night at press time they faced the AAC’s top team, No. 7 Cincinnati (23-3, 12-1), at home.

Rollins

The men’s basketball team rose to 12-11 overall and 6-7 in the Sunshine State Conference with an 84-59 thrashing of Florida Tech on Feb. 12 and an 81-72 win over Nova Southeastern on Feb. 15.

The Tars first winning streak since December comes courtesy of double-digit shooting by most of the starting five. Mitch Woods rained 20 points against Florida Tech, with Chris Uhle dropping 17 in the basket. Against Nova, Alex Blessig hit 23 points with Adam Allen’s 22 close behind. Woods nailed 17 points in that game while grabbing nine assists.

The Tars played Lynn on Wednesday at press time, just after the Lady Tars (21-4) edged out Nova 74-71 in overtime Feb. 15.

Both teams will head to Miami Shores on Feb. 22 to face Barry, which is struggling at mid-pack in the SSC on both the women and men’s teams.

High school basketball

The Winter Park boys basketball team edged Fort Pierce Central in the first round of regional basketball Feb. 13 with a 70-63 score. Starting the week the boys were 25-3 on the year, with only one loss at home all season.

They played Tuesday night at press time, hosting Oak Ridge in the regional semifinal. With a win, they could be taking on the winner of the Wharton versus St. Petersburg game in the regional final. Both of those teams won their first playoff game by 25-plus point blowouts. That game would be at 7 p.m. Feb. 22, with the location dependent upon the teams playing.