Darius Johnson had 11 points and seven steals, Keyshawn Hall scored 15 points and UCF held visiting California Baptist without a point over a five-minute span in the second half to pull away with a 74-59 win Sunday afternoon in Orlando, Fla.
Moustapha Thiam finished with 11 points and Jordan Ivy-Curry chipped in 10 points for the Knights (6-2) in their second straight win.
Dominique Daniels Jr. led all scorers with a season-high 33 points on 11-of-25 shooting for the Lancers (5-4), who got no more than six points from any of its other six scorers. California Baptist conceded 21 points off of its season-high 19 turnovers.
The game was tied at 36 early in the second half when UCF broke away with a decisive 15-0 run. It started with a short hook shot from Thiam and carried over with a drive and score by Johnson.
The Knights then got back-to-back 3-pointers by JJ Taylor and Hall with the shot clock running down to boost the lead up to 46-36. Hall added a three-point play after a drive in the lane, and Nils Machowski capped the run with a short jumper to make it 51-36 with 11:20 left.
The Lancers went 5:10 without a basket until Brantly Stevenson’s layup pulled the visitors within 13. They never got closer than that rest of the way.
California Baptist controlled most of the first half behind 20 points from Daniels. He scored 12 straight for the Lancers as they jumped ahead 16-11 and hit two free throws to give them their largest lead of the game at 20-13 with 6:54 left before halftime.
UCF would come back with 10 in a row, including a key three from Benny Williams, just his second of the season, and pull ahead 23-20.
Back-to-back threes by Johnson gave the Knights a 31-27 advantage late in the first half and they led 32-29 at the break. Cal Baptist outrebounded UCF 22-16 in the first half and 37-31 for the game.
The Knights shot 45.3 percent from the floor compared to 35.1 percent for Cal Baptist. They also made 18 of 26 free throws, while the Lancers hit all 13 of their attempts from the line.
–Field Level Media
