Saturday, February 26, 2005

Contact: Stan Cole

UCF Deals Campbell 63-52 Loss In A-Sun Men's Basketball; Clinches Share of Regular Season Title

BUIES CREEK, N.C. – The University of Central Florida shot 56 percent from the field and clinched at least a share of the Atlantic Sun Conference men's basketball regular season championship Saturday with a 63-52 win over Campbell at Carter Gym.

Gary Johnson led the Golden Knights (21-8, 13-7) with 14 points, nine assists and five steals on a perfect shooting night, including 4-of-4 from 3-point range and a pair of free throws. Joshua Peppers added 10 points for UCF, which won its fifth-straight game and ninth in the last 10 outings.

Ruell Pringle, the A-Sun's leading freshman scorer, led Campbell with a game-high 22 points. Maurice Latham added 11 points, while Comerlee Poole contributed 10, plus nine rebounds. Campbell (2-25, 0-20) dropped its 22nd-straight game to close the season.

Johnson netted a pair of threes and Kingsley Edwards canned a triple in the midst of a 12-2 UCF run midway through the first half. UCF led 32-20 at the break, hitting 6-of-10 threes and shooting 57.9 percent (11-19) in the opening half.

Campbell shot just 37 percent (20-54) for the game, 29.6 percent (8-27) in the first period. The Camels, however, maintained contact by converting 24 UCF turnovers into 29 points.

UCF scored the first seven points of the second half and built the lead to as many as 19 (39-20) when Anthony Williams hit two free throws with 16:47 to play.

Marcus Johnson's dunk in traffic left UCF in front 48-30 with 8:35 remaining in the contest. Campbell, however, scored 12 unanswered points – 10 from Pringle – to pull within 48-42 with 5:51 to go.

Williams scored underneath off Peppers' feed on the following possession, then Campbell turned the ball over and Peppers canned two foul shots to build the lead back to double figures. The Camels were unable to get closer than seven thereafter.

The Golden Knights converted 10-11 free throws in the final period, including 6-of-6 in the last 5:01.

Pringle, a product of Virginia Beach, Va., closed the year with a team-leading 12.6 scoring average to top all A-Sun freshmen. His 341 points scored in 27 games marks the second-highest points total by a Camel frosh since the program joined the NCAA Division I ranks in 1977-78. Mark Mocnik tallied 352 as a freshman in 1988-89.

Campbell also posted a plus-rebounding margin (+1.9) for the season as a team for the first time since the 1993-94 season. [Box Score]