Nov. 18, 2005
ORLANDO - Senior guard Troy Lindbeck scored a career-high 20 points as the UCF men's basketball team opened the 2005-06 season with a victory, topping visiting Rollins, 68-58, on Friday evening at UCF Arena. All five of Lindbeck's made field goals were from three-point range.
The Golden Knights (1-0) finished the game with a 45-32 edge on the glass and held the Tars (1-1) to just 36.4 percent shooting from the floor.
The game was played in front of 3,051 fans - the seventh largest crowd in UCF Arena history.
In the win, senior guard Justin Rose posted his first career double-double with 12 points and a career-best 10 rebounds. He added five assists, two blocks and a pair of steals.
From the field, UCF shot 39.2 percent (20-of-51) and made 7-of-22 (31.8 percent) from three-point range.
"It was a typical first game in a lot of ways," said UCF head coach Kirk Speraw. "You have to give a lot of credit to Rollins... they executed their style very well. We just didn't score. We missed open shots and did not move the ball very well."
Rollins got within three points with 12 minutes to play in the game after Jonny Reibel drained a three, but the hosts responded with an 8-0 run to put the game out of reach. Junior forward Lavell Payne started the stretch with a layup and then Lindbeck sank two-consecutive treys to hand UCF a 50-39 edge.
Senior forward Anthony Williams totaled 10 points and seven boards for the Golden Knights. Payne finished with nine points.
"Our guys also did a lot of good things," said Speraw. "Obviously, this is a starting point, but we still have a long way to go."
| The Golden Knights honored a legend on Friday as the UCF Arena floor was dedicated "Torchy Clark Court." |
The Tars led by as many as four points in the first half. The Golden Knights appeared to pull away late in the period, as a dunk by Rose sparked a 7-1 spurt to help UCF lead, 32-23, with 1:32 on the clock. Rollins would not go away, getting a three by John Hogan and a lay-in from Greg Sweeney to cut the Golden Knight edge to 32-28 at halftime.
John Thinnes hit five triples in the losing effort and finished with 20 points. Reibel added 14 points and five assists for the Tars.
At halftime, the Golden Knights honored a legend as the UCF Arena floor was declared "Torchy Clark Court," after the first head coach in school history: Eugene "Torchy" Clark. Clark coached at UCF from 1969-83 and won a school-record 274 games.
UCF will play the second of four-consecutive contests to start the season at home on Tuesday, hosting Nova Southeastern at 7:30 p.m. The game will be aired live on the UCF ISP Sports Network and its flagship station, WQTM - 740 THE TEAM.