Dec. 12, 2008
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - Senior guard Jermaine Taylor (Tavares, Fla.) totaled 31 points as the UCF men's basketball team rolled to a 110-68 win over Florida Tech Friday evening at the UCF Arena. Four Knights (5-3) finished with double-figures in scoring as the team shot a season-high 58.9 percent overall for the game.
Freshman guard Isaac Sosa (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico) connected on six 3-pointers and added a season-best 22 points as the Knights improved to 3-0 at home this season. All 10 Knights who played in the contest scored at least two points, including freshman guard A.J. Rompza (Chicago, Ill.). He posted his first career double-double with 11 points and 10 assists.
UCF shot 14-of-29 (48.3 percent) from 3-point range and also finished with a 52-38 points in the paint edge. Florida Tech fell to 6-2 with the loss.
"We got some things in transition that really helped us. It was good for us to have some success against some zone," UCF head coach Kirk Speraw said. "It was good that our guys were able to knock down some perimeter jumpers. The most important line item was the 28 assists. That is a great assist number and shows the unselfishness that our guys have moving the basketball."
Florida Tech led by eight early in the game, but Taylor sparked a 13-0 run with a triple at the 7:06 mark that allowed the hosts to take the lead and pull away. Taylor scored 21 points in the first half. The Knights shot 62.5 percent from the floor in the opening 20 minutes and led 52-31 at the break.
Taylor made 12-of-18 field-goal attempts and also added five boards, five assists and two steals in just 28 minutes.
The Knights' 28 assists were a season high. UCF also forced 21 Florida Tech turnovers. The Knights made all 10 of their free-throw attempts during the game.
Making his first career start, Sosa made 8-of-16 shots from the field, including a 6-of-12 showing from deep. Off the bench, freshman forward P.J. Gaynor (Jacksonville, Fla.) totaled 12 points and a game-high seven boards.
The Panthers shot 43.6 percent from the field, but made just 6-of-21 (28.6) attempts from behind-the-arc. Simon Cummings paced Florida Tech with 23 points and Derek Hellemann added 16 in the losing effort.
The Knights will return to action Saturday, Dec. 20, facing Florida in Jacksonville. UCF's next home contest is set for Dec. 22 against Valparaiso.
For the latest news on the Knights, log on to UCFAthletics.com - the official site for UCF varsity sports. The site, which also contains ticket and Golden Knights Club donor information, is also the home of UCF's new online apparel store. Also visit UCFPhotos.com, the exclusive fan source for UCF action sports pictures.