Nov. 18, 2011
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By Doug Richards
UCFAthletics.com
Box Score in PDF Format ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - As he started to speak to the media following his team's 84-72 victory over High Point at the UCF Arena Friday, UCF head coach Donnie Jones praised the Knights for their team effort. But the coach also commended two individuals, and they were not leading scorers Marcus Jordan (21 points) and Keith Clanton (20).
Jones singled out Josh Crittle and P.J. Gaynor, two reserves who gave the Knights (2-1) a huge spark during the second half against a High Point (1-2) team that fell by only two points at Purdue earlier in the week. Crittle finished with 10 points and five rebounds in only 14 minutes in his first game as a Knight. Gaynor totaled eight points and four boards in 20 minutes.
He also sparked a 13-0 run that started with seven minutes left in the second half that allowed UCF to pull away from a pesky Panthers squad. Gaynor got the hosts going with a traditional 3-point play on a thunderous fastbreak dunk. Two minutes later his 3-pointer at the 5:08 mark gave the Knights a 70-57 edge, and Clanton capped the run with 4:27 on the clock with a pair of free throws.
"We are happy for the victory. I am really proud of our team tonight. I thought we had a great team effort," Jones said. "There were some great lifts off the bench tonight with Josh Crittle. P.J. Gaynor gave us some good minutes. I thought we did a good job of executing. We played against a very good team in High Point."
After Shay Shine scored to get High Point within two points, 54-52, with 11:43 left in the game, Crittle had a huge bucket that helped put the momentum on the Knights' side. He tipped in a missed shot by Gaynor, and after Shine turned the ball over, Tristan Spurlock nailed a 3-pointer that put the hosts up 59-52.
Crittle shot 3-of-5 from the floor and made all four of his free-throw attempts. He sat out all of last season after transferring from Oregon, and did not dress for any of the team's first three games to start the year.
"We are happy for Josh," Clanton said. "He played real strong. He said he was going to play with a lot of energy and enthusiasm and he did that."
UCF shot 40.9 percent overall and did a much better job at the line compared to its performance at Florida State. The Knights made 80.0 percent (24-of-30) of their free-throw attempts.
UCF and High Point were meeting for the first time.
Clanton added a game-high 15 rebounds in the win, and also recorded two blocks in 35 minutes. Jordan shot 7-of-16 overall and added four assists in 35 minutes of action.
UCF led 36-31 at the break after both Clanton and Jordan totaled eight points in the opening stanza.
Nick Barbour led the Panthers with 18 points.
The game concluded a busy stretch to start the season for the Knights, who were playing their third game in six days. Next up for the Knights is trip to the Bahamas for the Battle 4 Atlantis. The three-day, eight-team tournament starts on Thanksgiving, and UCF will open the event at 2:30 p.m. against College of Charleston. The game will air nationally on Versus. UCF will face either defending national champion UConn or NCAA Tournament participant UNC-Asheville the following day.
"We are looking forward to it," Jordan said of the trip to the Bahamas. "I think everybody is excited. But we haven't really looked forward to it because we had this game that we were focused on. Now we are going to focus in on that."