UCF relied on the hot shooting of true freshman swingman Adonys Henriquez to overcome visiting Eckerd 76-59 and improve to 2-0 on the season.
Henriquez, a 4-star ESPN recruit from Orlando Christian Prep, finished the game with a team high 21 points on 5-of-7 shooting from beyond the arc. He paced the Knights sharp-shooting on Thursday night, as the team finished shooting 26-of-44 (59.1%) from the floor and connected on 10-of-20 three-pointers.
“Obviously I’m happy with the win,” UCF head coach Donnie Jones said. “We are a team that is still in transition and learning how to play together. I have to give it to Eckerd. They really competed. We knew coming in that they were tough. Tom [Ryan] does a great job with his team. They’re very physical and have a great feel for how to play. I knew we’d be in for a battle.”
The Knights came out strong, rushing out to a 20-8 lead in the first half, but turnovers allowed Eckerd to get back into the game and they cut the lead to just two points with 11:49 to play in the first half. Eckerd took their first lead with 7:16 remaining in the first half after a pair of free throws gave Eckerd a 29-27 advantage.
The rest of the first half was a dogfight, with Eckerd never leading by more than three and went into the half leading UCF 37-35.
UCF buckled down in the second half, after Eckerd scored the first four points, UCF went on a 9-0 run and never looked back. UCF took their first double-digit lead when Henriquez scored on back-to-back buckets off of the wing.
“It felt good. I felt like I had a good warm-up. My teammates felt like I was hot so they kept getting me the ball and I kept shooting it. If I was open I shot it, if I wasn’t I moved the ball. I give my teammates the credit for getting me open shots,” Henriquez said after the game.
Next up for the Knights will be USC Upstate on Sunday at 6 p.m. in the CFE Arena.
