Knights break out big with win over FAU

The Knights threw down a dominating 75-61 win over Florida Atlantic on Saturday thanks to a double-double by forward A.J. Davis and double-digit scoring by two other Knights.

It took Davis a while to find his shot, starting the game but not scoring a single point until nearly 10 minutes in. By that time the Knights had missed 11 shots from the floor and made just three, all of them layups.

After that moment, when Davis dropped a jumpshot that finally began pulling the Knights closer to an Owls team that seemed to be running away with the game, Davis and the Knights caught fire. Within a minute and a half, the Knights had the lead, propelled largely by Davis, who for most of the final 10 minutes of the first period was doing almost all of the Knights’ rebounding. His physical play landed him at the free throw line enough times to give UCF its first lead of the game.

By 12 minutes into that first period, the Knights were landing more shots than they missed, as they piled on scores to eventually blow open a 9-point lead heading into the locker room. From that point onward, the game was never close again.

“We finally got locked in and played really focused in the second half,” Head Coach Donnie Jones said at a postgame press conference.

“We’re learning how to use A.J. [Davis],” he added about Davis’ progress after sitting out all of last season. “Sometimes he was trying to guard everybody on defense, and do everything on offense. He’s a Mr. Do It All.”

Adonys Henriquez chipped in 13 points and five rebounds, while Shaheed Davis added 12 points and seven rebounds.

The win gave UCF’s men’s basketball team its fourth win in a row, and four in a row at the Bright House.

Now that the Knights are 5-3 and on a roll, they’ll hop their second longest plane ride of the season to land in chilly Detroit for a 1 p.m. Saturday tipoff. The Titans (5-3) are fresh off a 95-80 trouncing of Bowling Green.

The lady Knights are 3-6 on the season after losing five straight, including a 70-42 trouncing by St. John’s on Sunday. They host Oklahoma State at 1 p.m. Dec. 22.

Rollins

The Tars’ perfect season is over after they fell 67-62 to Eckerd in a game they had led by 10 points with less than 9 minutes left to play Saturday. For the Tars (9-1, 2-1), who at one point in the second half led by 16 points in what had all signs of a rout, a late game collapse went from unlikely to seemingly inevitable.

Mike Bedulskis’ dunk to put Rollins ahead 55-46 with 7:22 left in the game may have seemed like a dramatic flourish for a team savoring a game nearing victory, but by then Eckerd (9-1, 4-0) had already begun reeling Rollins back in.

In 10 minutes the lead shrank from 16 points to a tie, then an Eckerd lead after a trip to the free throw line. The Tars’ Sharif Almulla blasted through the paint for a layup and a foul shot, sinking all 3 points to give the Tars their last lead of the game with 3:22 left to play. The Tars would land just one more shot from the floor as Eckerd pulled away on free throws.

The Tars travel to the South Point Holiday Classic in Las Vegas with a 4 p.m. Dec. 18 tipoff against Tarleton State.

The women’s team fell 87-67 versus Virginia Union on Monday at the Rollins Invitational. The lady Tars have struggled early in the season, with a 5-5 record including two losses in a row heading into this week. After the Invitational they’ll open conference play with a road trip to Barry at 2 p.m. Jan 2.

Winter Park

The boy’s basketball team has its first district win, but only by the slimmest of margins as they head toward the holidays. The Wildcats edged Timber Creek 53-52 on the Wolves’ home court Dec. 11, and to do it they had to hold off a comeback charge that nearly sent the game into overtime.

The Wildcats (6-4, 1-0) then edged Orlando Christian Prep with a 73-71 win at the Hoops with a Heart tournament on Dec. 12 in Oviedo. They traveled to Cypress Creek at press time on Wednesday. They’ll host Edgewater (5-2) at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

The girl’s basketball team leapt up to 5-3 overall and 1-1 in the district with a dominating 62-33 blowout at home over Timber Creek (3-7, 1-1) on Dec. 11. That gave the Wildcats back-to-back blowout wins on consecutive nights, following their 73-30 trouncing of Orlando Freedom.

Monday night they kept up the streak with a 50-37 blasting of Dr. Phillips, with Katie Price leading the way with 15 points for the Wildcats. The girls will have the holiday break off before heading to Evans for a 7:30 p.m. tipoff on Jan. 5.