Orlalndo, Fla. -- Central Florida held the Hatters off the backboards and held their home court in a 73-60 victory over Stetson Saturday night at UCF Arena. The Golden Knights out-rebounded Stetson 48-23 and bounced back from a Hatters comeback that nearly turned the tide early in the second half.
"We played a good team tonight," said Head Coach Derek Waugh. "We weren't at our best, but rebounds were the difference."
Stetson grabbed only 10 boards in the first half and missed 12 of their first 14 shots, yet trailed only 32-28 at the break. UCF had built a 24-11 lead before Kris Thomas keyed an 8-0 run with one of his four three-pointers. Stetson then ended the half on a 7-2 run to make it a four-point game.
The Hatters used that momentum to pull within 41-40 at the 14:39 mark when Garfield Blair stole the ball in the open court and finished the break with a layup. Blair finished with a team-high 18 points on 7-13 shooting. Thomas was the only other Hatter in double figures with 17 points. He was 4-8 beyond the arc.
Jermaine Taylor poured in 23 points on efficient 9-13 shooting to spark UCF offensively. Lavell Payne chipped in with 13 points and 8 rebounds, while serving as the difference-maker inside. Payne's dunk with 9:52 remaining punctuated a run that put UCF on top by 10, 53-43. He also helped the Stetson big men, Collins Okafor and Tim Lang, combine for nine fouls.
A pair of free throws from Blair brought Stetson within 53-47 with 9:01 to play, but UCF steadily built the lead back to double-digits and then hit their free throws down the stretch. Stetson shot just 32.8% for the game, including 8-30 from three-point range.
The Golden Knights improved to 2-0 on the season while Stetson dropped to 1-3. The Hatters will play their first home game Monday night at 7:00 against Palm Beach Atlantic.