UCF Floods Niagara In Home Opener
UCF Press Release
November 26, 2002
ORLANDO - UCF, led by Ray Abellard's 29
points, had two players set career highs and another equal a career best as
the Golden Knights routed Niagara, 94-69, in their home opener at UCF Arena
Monday evening.
In addition to Abellard, Roberto Morentin, who was making his second career
start for the Knights, scored a career-high 20 points. Senior Ed Dotson
matched a personal best with 17 points and went on to register a double-double
as he led the team with 11 boards.
The Knights raced out to a quick 12-4 advantage after Abellard hit two of his
four first half three-pointers. Despite forcing the Purple Eagles into 12
first half turnovers, UCF (1-1) was unable gain a double-digit lead until just
under six-minutes remaining in the first half. Niagara (0-2) had three players
with five first-half points and got eight of their 22 first-half points from
the free-throw line.
The Knights would hold a double-digit lead for the remainder of the game, as
the closest the Purple Eagles could narrow the gap to was 11 with 1:24
remaining in the first half.
UCF, behind 14-second half points from Morentin, put the game out of reach as
they put Niagara into a 28-point deficit. Tremmell Darden did catch a hot hand
for Niagara as he shot 6 of 10 in the second half to finish with 20 points.
The Golden Knights had four players finish in double figures as Marius Boyd
added 10. The team shot just over 49 percent from the floor and finished
hitting nearly 52 percent of their three-point attempts on 9 of 17 shooting
from behind the arc. UCF out-rebounded the Purple Eagles 36-34.
Niagara had three players reach double figures as Juan Mendez added 15 and
Alvin Cruz 10. James Reaves had nine boards to lead the Purple Eagles, who
shot 42 percent from the floor. Niagara struggled from behind the arc hitting
just 4 of 15 attempts for 26 percent.
UCF will hit the road to compete in the six-team New Orleans Knockout
Tournament over the Thanksgiving holiday. They are scheduled for a first-round
game against Tulane on Friday.
Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS
Niagara vs UCF
11/25/02 7:30 p.m. at UCF Arena
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VISITORS: Niagara 0-2
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
32 BROOKS, David....... f 4-7 0-2 1-1 2 3 5 1 9 1 1 0 2 28
43 MENDEZ, Juan........ f 5-7 0-0 5-6 2 6 8 4 15 0 2 2 0 31
53 REAVES, James....... c 2-8 0-1 1-2 1 8 9 3 5 1 4 0 2 30
04 DARDEN, Tremmell.... g 6-13 1-3 7-8 2 3 5 3 20 2 1 0 1 33
10 CRUZ, Alvin......... g 2-9 1-4 5-6 0 1 1 3 10 6 4 0 1 26
01 HOWELL, Jarrett..... 0-2 0-1 1-2 0 1 1 2 1 1 2 0 0 12
05 CARRON, Rhossi...... 2-2 2-2 0-0 0 1 1 2 6 0 2 0 0 14
12 MATHIS, James....... 0-3 0-2 1-2 0 2 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 11
33 DUROSIER, Barry..... 0-0 0-0 0-2 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 7
44 DE WET, Paul........ 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 3 2 0 0 0 0 8
TEAM................ 1 1 2 1
Totals.............. 22-52 4-15 21-29 8 26 34 23 69 13 17 2 6 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 7-22 31.8% 2nd Half: 15-30 50.0% Game: 42.3% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 0-5 0.0% 2nd Half: 4-10 40.0% Game: 26.7% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 8-12 66.7% 2nd Half: 13-17 76.5% Game: 72.4% 7,2
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HOME TEAM: UCF 1-1
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
21 BOYD,Marius......... f 4-5 2-3 0-1 0 3 3 4 10 3 1 0 1 25
25 DOTSON, Ed.......... f 6-14 0-0 5-7 5 6 11 4 17 3 2 2 1 28
13 MORENTIN, Roberto... c 9-18 1-1 1-3 6 2 8 2 20 1 1 1 3 37
03 MILLER, Al.......... g 3-6 0-1 2-6 0 3 3 2 8 3 0 0 2 32
10 ABELLARD, Ray....... g 7-12 4-7 11-12 0 3 3 0 29 2 4 0 0 32
01 DUBE, Chris......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 1
02 MEEKER, Doug........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
04 LYONS, Dexter....... 2-3 1-1 0-0 0 0 0 1 5 1 0 0 0 2
05 MCGEE, Marcus....... 0-1 0-1 0-0 1 1 2 2 0 1 1 0 0 7
20 LINDBECK, Troy...... 0-1 0-0 2-2 0 0 0 1 2 3 0 0 1 18
22 ROSS, Robert........ 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3
35 BAKANOWSKY, William. 1-4 1-2 0-0 0 1 1 5 3 2 0 0 0 14
TEAM................ 1 4 5
Totals.............. 32-65 9-17 21-31 13 23 36 22 94 20 9 3 9 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-32 40.6% 2nd Half: 19-33 57.6% Game: 49.2% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 4-9 44.4% 2nd Half: 5-8 62.5% Game: 52.9% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 7-11 63.6% 2nd Half: 14-20 70.0% Game: 67.7% 2
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Officials: David Day, David Guthrie, Eli Rowe
Technical fouls: Niagara-, REAVES, James 2, TEAM. UCF-, MILLER, Al.
Attendance: 1038
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Niagara....................... 22 47 - 69
UCF........................... 37 57 - 94
Niagara vs UCF (11/25/02 - Period 2 00:00) POINTS OFF TURNOVERS 1 2 - Tot Niagara................. 8 7 - 15 UCF..................... 14 10 - 24 POINTS IN PAINT 1 2 - Tot Niagara................. 10 20 - 30 UCF..................... 16 22 - 38 2ND CHANCE POINTS 1 2 - Tot Niagara................. 1 11 - 12 UCF..................... 4 7 - 11 FAST BREAK POINTS 1 2 - Tot Niagara................. 0 0 - 0 UCF..................... 0 0 - 0 BENCH POINTS 1 2 - Tot Niagara................. 0 10 - 10 UCF..................... 2 8 - 10 SCORE TIED BY 1 2 - Tot Niagara................. 0 0 - 0 UCF..................... 1 0 - 1 LEAD GAINED BY 1 2 - Tot Niagara................. 1 0 - 1 UCF..................... 1 0 - 1