Aug. 13, 2005
POISSY, France - Sophomore center Adam Gill scored 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field as the UCF men's basketball team improved to 4-0 on its European tour, claiming an 85-77 exhibition victory over Poissy on Saturday evening in Poissy, France. The Golden Knights had five players finish in double-figures in scoring, led by junior forward Josh Peppers with 18 points.
UCF shot 48.4 percent overall for the game and was nearly perfect from the free-throw line, making 17-of-19 (89.5 percent) of its attempts.
After numerous lead changes, the Golden Knights grabbed the lead for good at the end of the third quarter when senior forward Marcus Johnson grabbed an offensive rebound and dunked to put UCF ahead, 64-63. Poissy was unable to regain the lead in the fourth quarter and the visitors went up by five with 5:43 to play when senior forward Anthony Williams connected on a layup.
Senior guard Justin Rose had 14 points and added three assists in the win. Williams grabbed a game-high nine boards to go with 13 points and three assists.
Gill paced UCF early, connecting on a three-point play and hitting a jumper to score the first five points of the contest. Poissy rallied with a 20-6 run and led 20-11 when Derrick Durham scored with 3:39 on the clock in the first quarter.
Johnson finished with 12 points and six rebounds, including four on the offensive end. Peppers totaled seven boards and three steals.
The Golden Knights opened the second stanza on an 11-2 run and took a two-point lead at the 6:49 mark after Rose nailed a pair from the charity stripe. Poissy again mounted a rally, eventually grabbing a 10-point edge before sophomore guard Mike O'Donnell drained a long three at the buzzer to cut the deficit to 47-39 at halftime.
Durham paced Poissy with 13 points. Richard Macalou finished with 13 points.
UCF will play its third game in as many days on Sunday afternoon, facing Vanves Basket.
Notes: Poissy is a French National Division One team that featured several foreigners, including Derrick Durham, who played at UW-Milwaukee in the early-1990s... The game was played at an interesting venue as Poissy's gym has skylight windows on the ceiling, allowing the late-afternoon sun to shine on the court. Temperatures in Paris were in the high 70s on Saturday, but Poissy's gym had no air conditioning, making the building extremely warm inside during the game... Poissy is located 30 minutes west of Paris... UCF left Brussels, Belgium on Saturday morning. The squad made a four-hour bus trip to Paris, driving through rural France... After arriving in Paris, the contingent took a brief tour by bus of the city, viewing historic sites such as the Eiffel Tower and The Louvre... The group will visit the Eiffel Tower on Sunday morning and then take a boat tour of Paris on Monday.