ORLANDO - William Bakanowsky's double-double was not enough to lift UCF past Gardner-Webb in the first league game of the season. Bakanowsky scored 11 points while pulling down a career-high 14 rebounds as The Golden Knights fell to 4-1, 0-1 A-Sun. Gardner-Webb improved to 3-1, 1-0 A-Sun with the 67-55 win.
After falling behind early, UCF went on a 10-1 run to take a 17-7 lead at the 14:34 mark. Trey's by Bakanowsky, Gary Johnson and Marcus Avant sparked the run. GWU held UCF scoreless from the 12:05 mark until the 5:45 mark and went on a 11-0 run to take a 24-23 lead. UCF battled back to take a six point lead with one minute to play in the half before a three by Josh Chiles trimmed the halftime lead to 35-32.
The Knights extended their lead to 49-41 at the 14:51 mark, which is where the shooting woes began. GWU outscored UCF 26-6 over the remainder of the game, holding UCF to just one field goal over that span. The Knights went 1-for-16 to close the game. GWU capitalized on the poor shooting and went on runs of 10-0 and 8-0 to secure the win.
Tim Jennings and Simon Conn scored 14 points apiece for Gardner-Webb, while Chris Gash pulled down a team-high seven boards.
Four Golden Knights reached double figures, including Bakanowsky. Gary Johnson and Josh Peppers each scored 11 while Anthony Williams added 10 for UCF.
The Golden Knights will be back in action again on Saturday when they host UMKC at 7:00 p.m. Marc Daniels will call the action, which can be heard live on UCF ISP Sports Network and its flagship station 740-The Team (AM).