Aug. 12, 2005
GENT, Belgium - The UCF men's basketball team rallied from a slow start Friday, pulling away in the fourth quarter to record a 91-73 victory over the Gent Dragons in Gent, Belgium. Junior forward Josh Peppers (20 points) led five Golden Knights who finished with double-digits in scoring as UCF improved to 3-0 on its six-game European tour.
For the game, UCF shot 54.5 percent from the floor, compared to just 37.1 percent for Gent. Behind 10 rebounds from Peppers, the Golden Knights held a 42-29 edge on the boards.
Starting the fourth quarter with a three-point lead, UCF pulled away from the hosts during the early stages of the period, using a 10-1 run. Peppers started the stretch, nailing a three. Sophomore center Adam Gill had a pair of layups during the run, which was capped by a basket by senior forward Marcus Johnson that handed the Golden Knights a 77-64 lead with 6:29 remaining in the contest.
Sophomore guard Dave Noel totaled 16 points and a game-high five assists. In addition to three blocks, senior forward Anthony Williams recorded 10 points, eight boards and four assists. Sophomore guard Mike O'Donnell finished with 12 points.
UCF trailed most of the first and second quarters, but went up two points with one minute to play in the second stanza after O'Donnell found senior guard Troy Lindbeck (nine points) who connected on a wide open triple. The hosts answered right back as Sam Rotersat hit a trey of his own as the buzzer sounded to put Gent up, 43-42, at the break.
The Golden Knights won despite finishing the 40-minute game with 27 total fouls. A pair of players, Johnson and senior guard Justin Rose, both fouled out and three players completed the game with four fouls.
Rose registered 10 points as he rounded out the UCF double-figure scorers. Off the bench, Gill had eight points, six boards and a block.
Rotersat paced Gent with 18 points and eight rebounds. Jovan Rouzan chipped in with 17 points.
UCF plays its fourth exhibition contest in Europe on Saturday evening, traveling just outside of Paris, France to face Poissy.
Notes: Prior to its game at Gent, the Golden Knights toured historic Brussels, visiting royal palaces, the city's famous marketplace and churches. Players also got a taste of the local cuisine as many enjoyed waffles for lunch... Gent is a large industrial city, located an hour northwest of Brussels...The Dragons are a second division team in the competitive Belgium league... The UCF contingent left Amsterdam early Friday morning by bus. The group was scheduled to stop on the way to Brussels and visit the City of Antwerp's diamond and chocolate factories. Due to rain in the Antwerp area, the team headed directly to Brussels... Despite intermittent rain, the Golden Knights finally enjoyed warm weather, with temperatures in Brussels hitting the low-70s during the day... UCF will leave Brussels on Saturday morning and make a four-hour bus trip to Paris.